As the World War was nearing an end, another disaster hit the world - the flu
    epidemic. It peaked in this area in October 1918. In this page from the Hopedale
    Town Report of 1918, most of what were almost certainly flu deaths were reported as
    pneumonia, beginning with Walter Morton on September 27, and continuing into the
    end of the year (and probably into 1919) with the death of Watrous Garnsey. John
    Grady, who, like many on the list was in his 30s at the time of his death, was the
    grandfather of Dick Grady, author of many of the Mendon articles on this site. Also
    worthy of note, although not a flu fatality, was the death of Susan Thwing Whitney. She
    was a daughter of Almon and Sarah Thwing, two of the most prominent members of
    the Hopedale Community. Susan wrote two articles for Hopedale Reminiscences -
    The Post Office, and The Burglary.

    For more on the flu epidemic in Hopedale, click here.

    Safe conduct passes saved by Hopedale resident
    and Army veteran John Bell. John served in the
    wars in Korea and Vietnam and has passes from
    both sides in both wars. You can see more of them
    at the bottom of the page of John's memories.

Hopedale in October


Ezine for October 1 - Origin of Hopedale Churches   

Ezine for October 15 - The South Hopedale Library   

Hopedale in October 2017       Hopedale in September 2018  

Recent Pictures Menu for 2018          HOME   

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    When my son, DJ, sent this picture I replied that I used to
    be 5'8", but now in advanced age I've probably shrunk to
    about one smoot. If you're not familiar with that unit of
    length, click here to go to a Wikipedia page on it.

Foundry patterns from Whitin Machine Works.

    There's our cut-in-half oil tank going out of the house after
    being here around 60 years. It must have been here since oil
    replaced coal for heating sometime in the 1950s. These guys
    from C.K. Smith did a great job, including getting the new tank
    down the cellar stairs with no more than an inch to spare.

Click here for more on the Harrison Block.

Getting ready for Halloween at the town park - October 4.

    Freedom Street - Was that written by DigSafe, or maybe
    it's somebody's suggestion for what to do with the place.

    Still getting ready for Halloween at the town park.        
    Above - October 6.                       Below - October 8.

    I was surprised to find this match cover on eBay. I remember the egg-o-mat at the Henry's farm on
    Dutcher Street back in the '50s. On eBay it says Hopedale, Illinois, but since it says Dutcher Street we
    can be sure it was in Hopedale, Mass. Click here to read Muriel Henry Tinkham's memories of the farm.

    This is for all you collectors of Hopedale
    Pressed Metal items.  It's on eBay and is
    listed as a bar combination wrench. The
    starting price is $14.95. No bids so far.

    Some wild weather late in the afternoon of the 11th did some
    damage in the area, including to a house on Hopedale Street
    and to the Halloween structure at the town park.

    Here's another event at the park, but this one took place c 1953.
    Click here for more pictures of it, with names on several of them.

Above - October 12

Below - October 13

The "haunted house" was taken down and not rebuilt after the storm damage.

The Parklands and Hopedale Pond on October 14.

    For Sale signs like this one went up on a number of former Draper
    properties today. (October 17) Some comments about them on the
    Hopedale Bulletin Board page on Facebook say this may not be a
    real attempt to sell, but are serving some other purpose.

    There have been a lot of comments on the Hopedale Bulletin Board page
    on Facebook about this area along Route 140 that has been cleared of
    trees over the past couple of weeks. It's across the road from Dollar Tree,
    Ace Hardware, Planet Fitness, etc. Below are two Google Earth views taken
    in 2014. On them, the area is next to where you'll see "S. Main St 140.

    A Hopedale video on YouTube with over 34,000 hits.
    What could it be? Click here to see it.

Allston - Thanks for the picture, DJ.