April has been a month of significant events in Hopedale history. While the first family to move into the
    Old House (above) went there late in 1841, Adin Ballou wrote that the real beginnings of the Hopedale
    Community in Hopedale date to April 1842.

    Hopedale became a town when the Act of Incorporation was passed on April 6, 1886 and signed by the
    governor the next day.

    The first issue of The Practical Christian, the newspaper of the
    Hopedale Community, was published in Mendon on April 1,
    1840. The last one was printed in Hopedale in April 1860. Some
    of them can be seen on the website, Digital Treasures. The
    Bancroft Library has a complete collection of them.

    "I was born Saturday, April 23, 1803, in the
    town of Cumberland, Providence County,
    Rhode Island, on a farm inherited from my
    paternal ancestors, and lying, partly in the
    state named, and partly in Massachusetts.
    Autobiography of Adin Ballou

    I was born in Lowell, Mass., on the ninth day of
    April 1842, my father at the time being an overseer
    of weaving for the Massachusetts Corporation in
    that city, and an occupant of one of the factory
    houses. William F. Draper, Recollections of a
    Varied Career.

    1897, April  - President William McKinley appoints
    General William F. Draper Ambassador to Italy.

    This picture of Ellen Fettig, sent by her daughter, Marge
    Clinton, was taken just twenty-four days before her
    105th birthday, which will be on April 8. Ellen lives in
    Hopedale with Marge. She's been here since 1935.
    "She is a Red Sox fan as you can see," Marge wrote.

    Click here to read a Milford News article about Ellen's
    birthday.

    Below are a few items that appeared in the Milford
    Daily News on the day of Ellen's birth.

Ads and news from other Aprils.

    The house below, 200 Dutcher Street, was where the Henry
    family lived, and where their farm was. First it was a dairy
    farm and later became poultry farm. Click here to read about it.

Tammie Road. This has certainly been a booming business lately.

Hopedale in April 2015

Hopedale in March

Hopedale Pond in April   

Hopedale History Ezine for April 1 - Hopedale Centennial Parade   

Ezine for April 15 - Hopedale, 1915   

Hopedale History Ezine Menu                       HOME   

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    I saw these two in the little patch of woods near The Ledges,
    off of Route 16 early in the afternoon of April 6. Thanks Bob P.
    for pointing them out as we drove by. A few minutes later, I
    walked in from the Adin Street side, and there they were.

Along the Dutcher Street entrance to the Parklands.

    Flag at Town Hall at half-staff for Town Clerk and
    Selectwoman, Janet Orff Jacaruso, who died April 4.

Fisherman's Island shelter/fireplace - Hopedale Pond.

    April 8 - The ice on Hopedale Pond is gone. Click
    here to see when it was gone in other years.

    Walt Whitman dropped in to the Bancroft Library on
    the evening of April 8 and gave quite a dynamic talk
    about his life and time.

Click here for more of Hopedale Pond in April.


The Parklands, April 11

    Thanks to Geri Cyr for the Milford News photo above. It was in an album
    of news clippings kept by Roberta Simmons. Note the Chapel Street
    School behind the bus, and the Dutcher Street School in the background.

    Below, the busses parked near Prospect Street, behind the Dutcher
    Street apartment building. Pictures taken a couple of hundred yards and
    79 years apart.

    Milford News photo - Press box at Fenway Park named the Bresh
    Box in honor of Dick Bresciani. Click here for the story on it.

    Town Park, April 15. Two weeks ago there was still some snow on
    the ground here. Click here to go to more of the park on April 15.

The not yet repainted Marathon finish line. Thanks for the picture, DJ.

Hopedale Pond - April 16

    The Uncommon Place condominiums, but to many of us, it's still the Dutcher
    Street School. It's quite a building, worth a close look. According to the
    Hopedale Historic Village National Register Nomination, it's Hopedale's only
    example of Chateauesque architecture.Picture taken from Prospect Street.

    I spoke about Hopedale history to four wonderful third
    grade classes at Memorial School a few days ago.
    Here are parts of a few of the thank you notes they sent.

    The item to the left is from USA Weekend. It didn't say where
    the information was from, so I took a look. I found a source for
    it in the paragraph below. It's from the American Council for an
    Energy Efficient Economy. (ACEEE)

    A sunny, windy Earth Day. An easy
    way to make use of solar energy.

    Or you could say that the earth is very, very
    small if you can cover it with your thumb.

Armenian monuments

Vernon Grove Cemetery

Milford

Historic markers and monuments in Milford   

    Mill pond by Route 140 - Hopedale on the left, Milford on the
    right. Click here to go to Now and Then at the Mill Pond.

    Above - Bill Wright, John Alden and Joe Perry in their 1966
    band, Chimes of Freedom. Bill passed away on April 24 after
    a month's illness. Here he is performing his song about the
    last years of Drapers in Hopedale, Sleepy Little Town.