April 15, 2011 No. 178 Trees Hopedale in April The UNIVAC at Draper, and a few of the early computer guys. Cotton Chats, 1953 Fishing at Nipmuc Rod & Gun, bowling, building the Hopedale Golf Course, and the Textileers. Here in the month of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War are pages on three Hopedale men who served in it. General William F. Draper (The Battle of the Wilderness). Charles Johnson (His burial in South Carolina and the stone with his name in the Hopedale Village Cemetery). Gilbert Thompson (Thompson served in the war, but the article is mainly about his life after it.) Since baseball season has started, I thought some of you would be interested in the Wikipedia article on Dick Bresciani. Eugene Newhall’s White Mountain vacation, 1910. Newhall worked for Draper Corporation, served as president of the G&U RR, was the town tax collector from 1913 to 1947, was an active member of the Unitarian Parish, and was a trustee of the Community House. Here are a couple of links to interesting sites on child labor, sent by Karen Stevens. Lewis Hine Project Child labor in Winchendon Yankee Magazine article on child labor in Winchendon <><><><><><><><><> Most of the trees mentioned in the 1966 Milford News article below were familiar to me. I well remember the huge elm on the Narducci yard on Northrop Street, that I passed daily, on my way to Park Street School, or the park or the pond. I also remember the elms of Dutcher Street, and of their decades of dying and being taken down. There are still some great beeches in the cemetery and elsewhere, and some gingkos on Adin Street. Katsura? That was a new one on me, but about two weeks after first reading of it in the article, I saw one at the park on Hill Street near the gym in Whitinsville. Winter Has Been Kind to Many Of Hopedale’s Cherished Trees So far, in spite of heavy snow, freezing cold, and bitter wind, most of the rare old trees in Hopedale have come through the winter with little damage, Tree Warden W. Chester Sanborn reports. There will undoubtedly be some damage before spring arrives, but this may be confined to the more common species of trees, the tree warden hopes. Homeowners know how much damage snow and ice can do to evergreens. The same problems hold true for heavier-branched trees. Among the town’s more unusual trees is a large white birch at the home of George Cadorette at 112 Dutcher Street, which is about three feet in diameter. Another is the large elm near the Nicholas Narducci home at 25 Northrop Street, which has a spread of 115 feet. A tree in Town Park located in center field off the baseball diamond is also a huge, branch spreading type. Several times in past years the Park Commissioners have been requested to remove it because of interference with baseballs. There is a spreading red beech tree at the Village Cemetery said to have been imported from Italy and of which there are not many of its size and beauty in the area. Sanborn points out the katsura tree on the property of Mrs. Carlton Scott at 37 Adin Street is the only one of its kind outside the Arnold Arboretum. Others rarely seen are the gingko trees on the properties of William Gannett (36 Adin at that time), the former Dr. John Coniaris place (41 Adin Street), and the Graceland Convalescent Home on Adin Street. (The house at the corner of Adin and Dutcher.) Sanborn also said he had planted two of this type in town park and at the Edwin Howard property at 116 Adin Street. Another, he said, not seen too frequently is the hop hornbeam at the John Hutchinson yard at 50 Freedom Street. One of Hopedale’s finest displays of trees, now dwindling because of the Dutch elm disease, are the stately elms on Dutcher Street, which at one time numbered 147 and spanned both sides of the street from Adin Street to the Cape road. Thirty-seven of these trees were removed when the highway was widened from the upper section two years ago. Adin Street, another one of this town’s pretty sights, running from the Milford line into the town’s center, is shaded by many maples. These, too, are showing the effects of verticillum wilt caused by the drought. Sanborn as the town’s veteran tree warden keeps a wary eye on the town’s trees, especially during the winter season. His diligent work, knowledge, and wide experience in this field has saved many of Hopedale’s trees over the past 20 years. Milford Daily News, February 4, 1966 Tree belt work, 1980s Hopedale History Email Menu HOME |
Katsura tree - Whitinsville |