March 1, 2012 No. 199 Draper Expansion, 1856 – 1886 Hopedale in February I’ve had a Now and Then in Spindleville page on my website for some time, but I recently noticed that I didn’t have a link to it on the Now and Then Menu. For those of you who might be interested, here it is Iceout, February 20 Hopedale Pond, February 22 Electric Company Formed in Milford, 1885 Milford Firsts Mendon Town Forest
<><><><><><><><><><> Draper Expansion, 1856 – 1886 After the Draper Company took possession of Hopedale in 1856, it first enlarged the factories to improve the productive capability of the industrial site that had been partially laid out by the earlier community. Water Street along the Mill River was extended south and Union Street was brought across to tie in, laying the way for industrial expansion. Near the upper end of Water Street sat two factory buildings, one of which was already outfitted with a waterwheel to operate a trip-hammer and lathe. It was this building, completed in 1843, that was known as the “mechanic shop” and that first housed the Drapers’ enterprise as well as other small businesses and also served for a time as a school. The second building went up three years later, in 1846, providing more space and relieving the crowed quarters of the older shop. Named the “cabinet shop” and measuring thirty by forty feet in plan, this second building was also of frame construction, though two stories in height. In 1855, a state census on manufacturing recorded the proceeds from these two shops as fifteen thousand dollars in the value of machinery made; operating capital was listed as five thousand dollars. In addition to the shops, several outbuildings, including stables and sheds, also located on Water Street, composed a part of the industrial site. The shops and attendant buildings formed a nucleus around which the company town developed. In 1856 the Drapers persuaded Warren W. Dutcher, inventor of an improved temple, to move to Hopedale and manage a division of the company. Absorbing a competitor expanded the business while retaining market control. Though the brothers purchased the inventor’s patent and operation, they permitted him to manufacture under his own name. Carried on as W.W. Dutcher Temple Company, the temple division continued to monopolize the trade. Sales were made through E.D. and G. Draper Company. Dutcher moved into the old cabinet shop before constructing a three-story building beside in it 1860 (also frame and thirty by forty feet) and a new brick factory in 1868. The new factory contained a boiler and enginehouse to supplement water power and provided three floors of work space. The small mechanic shop was renamed the Hopedale Machine Company in 1868 and transferred to the west side of the river to make room for additional construction. Joseph B. Bancroft, George Draper’s brother-in-law, superintended this new division after having worked in the shops since 1847. Again, sales were handled by the Draper Company. For a time Massachusetts required different manufacturing processes even in one enterprise to keep separate records for purposes of inventory and tax. Therefore, the company operated under several trade names before being renamed as simply the Draper Company in 1897, though principal ownership and all partnerships had always resided in the family. The overall organization and layout of the industrial site continued to change as the company extended its line of machinery. George Draper acquired a monopoly on spindles after purchasing the inventions of J.Herbert Sawyer of Lowell in 1871 and F.J. Rabbeth of Pawtucket in 1878. As with Dutcher, Draper brought Sawyer to Hopedale to set up and run his own department. By 1874, the number of buildings had multiplied from two to twenty, providing space for three machine shops, two foundries, two finishing mills, one pattern shop, plus sheds for coal, lumber, and other stores, one livery stable, and an office building. Power for operating the mills increased from an original forty-horsepower waterwheel on a thirteen-foot fall beneath the upper privilege to two hundred horsepower produced by a combination of water turbines and steam engines. The turbines were located at a second dam on the lower privilege. The company’s dependence on waterpower produced a linear industrial site that extended along the upper and lower privileges. Further separation of factories was produced by the company’s departmentalization. Castings, spindles, machine screws, and so on were manufactured at the northern end of the industrial site, and temples were made at the southern end. Gradually, with the introduction of steam engines and further site development, new buildings began filling in the open spaces. The Model Company Town, John S. Garner, pp. 128 – 135. Demolition at the Draper Plant, 2020 Draper Menu Hopedale History Ezine Menu HOME . |
Hopedale Machine Company |
Maps above from Model Company Town. |
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