Hopedale History March 1, 2010 No. 151 Trolley Trip Hopedale in February Little League – Police team, c. 1960 Additions to the Thwing mill site page Girl Scouts at Dr. Janko’s office, February 19 The Draper 150,000-gallon oil tank by John Cembruch See a G&U locomotive rolling through Upton – and in North Grafton - Crossing Route 30, North Grafton All on YouTube. One from November 2009, one from December 2009 and one from June 2008. Lighthouses of New England – Thanks to Peter Metzke for this. <><><><><><><><><><> Trolley Trip I knew nothing of Hopedale before 1910. On the nineteenth of April in that year, in the early morning, I stepped off the trolley car that had brought me from Framingham in an hour and a quarter, for the price of fifteen cents. I found myself in a neat, quiet, well-ordered village, whose inhabitants were, apparently, comfortably prosperous, and the air had a country freshness that was delightful; quite different from the city atmosphere I had so recently left behind me. It seemed good, and I was quite content. Decades after the ride, that’s how Charles Merrill described his arrival in Hopedale in his reminiscence, Hopedale As I Found It. Below is a description from a book, Trolley Trips Through Southern New England, of the voyage from Framingham through Hopedale and on to Uxbridge in 1902. SOUTH FRAMINGHAM TO HOLLISTON, MILFORD AND UXBRIDGE Cars pass R.R. station half hourly for HOLLISTON, 5 ½ miles, 5 cents; 25 minutes, MILFORD, 12 miles, 15 cents; 55 minutes. HOPEDALE, 14 miles, 1 hour, 10 minutes. LAKE NIPMUC PARK, 19 miles, 20 cents; 1 hour, 25 minutes. UXBRIDGE, 22 miles, 25 cents; 1 hour, 40 minutes. From So. Framingham, the line of the Milford, Holliston and Framingham Street Railway runs south from directly in front of the Boston & Albany depot, passing Waushakum Park and lake of the same name. Passing on through EAST HOLLISTON past the car house, we come to two large elm trees. One of these trees is twenty-eight feet in circumference, and the other thirty-two. These trees are over 125 years old. We are now on the outskirts of HOLLISTON and enter on the Main Street, passing through the square and between large elm trees on either side, are soon bowling along over hill and dale, passing the granite quarries of Norcross Brothers, and the east quarry of the Milford Pink Granite Construction Co., we come to the junction of the line to MEDWAY. Through East Main Street, we pass the junction of the Hopkinton line. MILFORD has a variety of industries, including shoe shops, elastic webbing, straw shops, and several large granite quarries. From here a side trip may be made to HOPKINTON of about 7 miles, and to MEDWAY of about 7 ½ miles. Continuing we pass the Park, through West Main Street, to HOPEDALE, passing the Public Library on the left, and church on the right, and also the extensive plant of the Draper Company. HOPEDALE, while a manufacturing town, with its handsome residences and well kept streets and lawns, does not resemble the ordinary manufacturing town. From here the car passes over Hopedale Pond, then for a mile and a half the tracks leave the highway, where excellent views are obtained. Passing out of this private right of way, we enter on North Avenue into the town of MENDON. It is one of the oldest towns in the State, and it is from this town that Hopedale and Milford were set off. In old stagecoach days it was in its prime, being on some of the direct routes. Passing Mendon Post Office and the Soldiers’ Monument, we are soon at the height of land 450 feet above sea level, from which a fine view, looking eastward, may be had on a clear day. We soon get a glimpse through the woods of LAKE NIPMUC, 400 feet above sea level. A little further we come to the clubhouse of the Nipmuc Canoe Club, and passing out of a deep cut come into full view of the lake, and Lake Nipmuc Park and its entrance. This park has recently been fitted up, this being its first season. At the entrance, as will be seen by the illustration, a neat waiting station and rustic stone fence has been built. In front of the pavilion in the park is the boat house and a number of skiffs are kept to let; also a power boat makes regular trips around the lake. Just beyond is the theatre, which is situated on a knoll overlooking the lake, and auditorium seating about one thousand people. The park is naturally very attractive, made up as it is with irregular surfaces. From the park the road runs by gradual descent through Wheelocksville to UXBRIDGE. In examining the maps, it will be noted that the three larger cities of Boston, Worcester and Providence, form a nearly perfect triangle with almost exactly equal sides. On the completion of the Milford & Uxbridge road, this gave a direct route across through Milford, something that has been demanded for a long time. Through the summer season half-hourly trips are made the full length of the line. Trolley Trips Through Southern New England, 1902, pp. 87 – 89. (Both the PDF version and the DjVu version worked well.) For more on trolleys in the Hopedale-Milford area, click here for Bob Heglund’s trolley history. (Note link at bottom of the trolley page – down below the pictures - to the second page.) Here’s a 1901 newspaper article about the first trip of the M & U trolley trip from Milford to Uxbridge. Here’s a map of trolley lines from Worcester and Framingham in the north down to the Rhode Island line. Milford Daily Journal articles on the building of the Milford and Uxbridge Street Railway in 1900 and 1901. <><><><><><><><><><> Recent deaths: Joyce E. Phillips, 83, Naples, Florida, February 13, 2010. Eleanor Crockett Hutchinson, 91, Falmouth, February 23, 2010, HHS 1935. (Picture of Eleanor in 1951 at the Hopedale Community House Women’s Club fair at the town park.) |