Here's a picture that was posted on Facebook recently. If you can add any names,
    you can use the email link on the homepage to pass them on to me.
    .

Hopedale in November 2016


Hopedale in October 2016   

Hopedale history ezine for November 1 -
Milford Hospital - The First Years   

Ezine for Mid-November -
Work of a Weaver   

Ezine Menu                  HOME   

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    So here we are at the corner of Hopedale and Freedom streets, looking past the fence that was
    replaced a few years ago, and across Hopedale Pond. And what is that on the other side? It's a
    building that was never built. In the late 1940s Draper Corporation was planning to build a
    research facility to keep up with advances in looms that would be necessary to compete with
    progress in other countries. The picture above comes from a plan drawn up in 1951 by David
    McCandless. He did it for his master's degree in architecture at MIT. As such, it wasn't necessarily
    a plan that Draper would use, but they were planning to build such a facility and McCandless had
    extensive talks with Draper people, including especially Fred FitzGerald who was head of the
    research department, and Edward Horton, also in the research department.


    Another site that I once heard that was under consideration for the research center was the block
    where the Dutcher Street School, the Chapel Street School and several houses were located. In
    the early 1950s all except the Dutcher Street School were razed, and according to the story, the
    reason for that was to make room for the research center. Another story related to this was that the
    center wasn't built because the most significant person involved in it was Fred Fitzgerald, and he
    died before any building started. That may have been the case, but if  it was, there would have
    been quite a delay. The clipping to the right said the start was expected in 1951. Fitzgerald died in
    the "bird strike crash" at Logan Airport in 1960.

    Site of the proposed Draper research center by
    the corner of Freedom and Progress streets.

Site of the long-gone Draper gas station. Click here to see a picture of it.

    Once it was Billy Draper's Store. Before too long it will be a much-needed parking lot.
    Click here to see pictures, clippings and memories of it from the past

    Click on the Cotton Chats cover to see the entire
    article about Draper houses built in 1947.

Click here for more photos of the Freedom Street bridge project.

    Click here to go to the Milford News article on the Hopedale Planning Board decision on
    the Cumberland Farms proposal to replace the existing store with a much larger facility..

Freedom Street - November 8.

Past peak, but still a bit of color - November 8.

    The Old House plaque and front step at Adin
    Ballou Park. Click here for more on the house.

    If a tree falls on Fisherman's Island, do the
    Pabst Blue Ribbon drinkers make a sound?

    Mendon Historical Society
    Presents

      We the People
    A Mendon Mini-Series
    Origin and Contributions of a New England Hilltop Village
    Mendon, Massachusetts
                                                                                                              
    Episode One

    Mendon Roots        (1620 - 1662)

























Please address questions/comments to John Trainor at [email protected]
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    In Mendon Roots we learn how and why Plymouth & Massachusetts Bay Colonies were established, understanding
    there was much more to America’s beginning than simply the pursuit of religious freedom. The resettlement had profit
    motives as well. Massachusetts Bay’s Weymouth and Braintree (from whence Mendon’s founders emigrated)
    contributed to the successes (and failures) of this new world.

    In the 1640’s and 50’s we acutely sense the emotions of the wanderlust Puritans relishing the lure of the unknown
    and the looming thrill of a new home beyond their somewhat congested lives on the coast. From the Massachusetts
    Bay towns of Weymouth and Braintree we watch our motivated families seek new habitat towards the frontier west,
    settling in the soon-to-be Squinshepauke Plantation. Would it be a walk in the park?






    Our Mendon Mini-series is based on significant periods in the life of Mendon, Massachusetts. The episodes and time
    periods are listed below.

    The venue/time for the November and December presentations will be the Unitarian Church (13 Maple Street,
    Mendon) at 7PM. The other venues/times will be announced later.

    Nov. 15, 2016 - Mendon Roots     (1620 – 1662)

    Dec. 6, 2016 - A Town No More     (1662 - 1676)
Mendon Historical Society
350th Anniversary (1667 – 2017)
Mendon Mini-Series
Presentation Schedule

Click here to see the rest of the schedule.

Hopedale Pond - November 14.

November 16

Highway Department vacuuming leaves on Lake Street - November 16.

    Billy Draper's Store. Probably not quite as
    you remember it. Click here to see more of
    the interior. They're on the bottom third of
    the page.

    From the Providence Gazette. Click here
    to read about slavery in Massachusetts.

    Above - The Blackstone River and Blackstone Canal, just a bit
    upstream from the Tri-River Clinic in North Uxbridge.

    Right - Goat HIll Lock, Northbridge, a short distance upstream from
    the location in the picture above. There were originally about 40
    locks in the Blackstone Canal. The Goat Hill and the Millville locks
    are the only two that remain. People found other uses for the stone
    from the other locks, but these two were remote enough to survive.

    I didn't have to travel to see this fireworks display.
    Thanks to some folks in the neighborhood, I took
    these pictures from my backyard.

St. Philip's Cemetery, Grafton

    November 21. A cold, windy day. Click here to see
    more of the Freedom Street bridge project.