The Draper fire station near Hopedale Street is on the left
    in this view. As you can see, the photo was taken when
    demolition of some of the Draper shops was underway.
    Below are a couple of pictures taken in 2011.

    The yellow arrow points to the Draper fire station near Bancroft Park
    and Freedom Street, which in now Howes Welding. The red arrow
    points to the fire station near Hopedale Street, across from Peace
    Street and Adin Ballou Park. The white arrow points to the pattern
    safe. Its purpose was to protect the patterns used for casting parts in
    the foundry. It was important to store the patterns in a fireproof
    building. Had they been in a building that burned, Drapers might never
    recover from the disaster. This photo was taken in 1950.
    .


    The four photos above show Howes Welding that now occupies
    the building that was once one of the Draper fire stations.
    .

                                    Now and Then - The Draper Fire Stations

    Don Howes is owner of the building at 2 Bancroft Park, that was once one of the two
    Draper Corporation fire stations. It was probably built between 1900 and 1910.  
    "Howsie"  thinks that at that time they probably didn't have motorized fire trucks there.
    He thinks it's more likely that they had carts or wagons that would be pulled to the
    location of a fire by the firemen. Because there was a water system in place, trucks with
    pumps were not necessary. Plenty of men were nearby, and the station wasn't far from
    any fire they'd be called to. Men could pull the wagons filled with hoses, axes and other
    fire fighting equipment and be at the site of the fire before horses could be hitched and
    ready to go.