Hopedale Community home of Henry and Caroline Lillie.
Peter Hackett, with sign mentioned in article below.

Hopedale History
October 2024
No. 432
Naming Hopedale – Part 2

Hopedale in October  

Blackstone Valley Railroad          Pink Granite Line  

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Twenty-five years ago – October 1999 – The last flight of the SR-71.

The U.S. Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

EgyptAir Flight 990, travelling from New York City to Cairo, crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts killing all 217 on board.

Fifty years ago – October 1974Gerald Ford signs Proclamation 4311, granting a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon,

The Soviet Union detonated a 1.7-kiloton atomic bomb, as part of a dam construction project. Plans for further atomic blasts were halted after the radioactivity from fallout proved to be much larger than expected.

Gerald Ford launched his “Whip Inflation Now” (WIN) campaign in conjunction with a speech to Congress to reduce the federal deficit by reducing federal spending and raising the income tax for corporations and wealthy individuals by five percent.

One-hundred years ago – October 1924 – The National Hockey League, which consisted solely of Canadian teams for its first seven seasons, became international for the first time with the addition of an American team. Charles Adams, a U.S. businessman and owner of a chain of grocery stores, purchased one of the NHL’s first two expansion franchises for $15,000 (equivalent to $269,000 in 2024), and named his team the Boston Bruins.

The U.S. Navy dirigible USS Los Angeles arrived in the United States at Lakehurst Naval Station at 9:52 in the morning, 81 hours after departing from its German construction site at Friedrichshafen.

The day after Notre Dame‘s defeat of Army in football, sportswriter Grantland Rice‘s famous newspaper account was published nationwide. “Outlined against a blue-gray October sky,” Rice wrote, “the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden

News items above are from Wikipedia. Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years can be seen below this textbox.

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Naming Hopedale – Part 2

By Peter Hackett

From the beginning we see that the Community idea was conceived at Rev. Adin Ballou’s home in Mendon and that the Constitution that gave it authority was drafted by him and ratified by 32 members at his house.

The Community was first named Fraternal Community No. 1, later to be known as the Hopedale Community. It was an experiment in social reform similar to the later but better- known so-called Brook Farm Association.

So while the Community was born in Mendon, it was at the Millville meeting where the old Jones Farm was given the name of Hope Dale, later to be known as Hopedale.

Hopedale, the village, later the town, received its name from the Hopedale Community, and not the Community from Hopedale. Truly the birth and meaning of Hopedale is a very unique circumstance.

Within the period of which we are writing, between the meetings of Mendon and Millville, Henry Lillie, wife and children moved into the old Jones Farm in October 1841, to get ready for the Community to move in the following spring. On October 28, a daughter was born to the Lillies, the first child born in Hopedale. She was named Lucy Ballou Lillie in honor of Mr. Ballou’s wife.

With the arrival of spring 1842, members began moving into the Jones Farm, and by June there were 44 persons in it; 10 men, 12 women, and 22 children. According to Mr. Ballou, “all domestic, economic, social, religious and community interests centered in and around it and became affectionately known as the “Old House.” Quoting further, he wrote, “We were all here in one household, professionals, mechanics, farmers, ordinary laborers, male and female, agreeing alike to serve the community if able, eight hours per day for fifty cents, and to pay for our board, lodgings, etc., one dollar per week.”

The Old House was razed in 1874 to make room for the expanding Draper shops. Apart from its connection with the Hopedale Community, the Old House had a long history of its own.

The writer suggested to Tom West, president of Draper Corp. that the Old House was very historical and that since it had been in the Draper shop yard it would be nice if the company placed a marker over, or near it. The company did, and in doing so, made me very happy.

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Hopedale News – October 1999

Hopedale News – October 1974

Hopedale News – October 1924

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