Groundhog Day, 2008. This event had
    nothing to do with groundhogs, though.
    Click here to see what was going on.

On thin ice - February 1.

Thanks to Don Howes for posting this on Facebook.

Click here to see much more on the Inman Street houses.

"Mouseover" house photos to see how they look now.

    My son, DJ, came across this wrench in his tool box recently, and decided that
    he should pass it on to me. The fact that it says "Draper Company" helps to
    narrow down its age. By the 1890s, companies operating in the Hopedale
    Street/Freedom Street area included E.D. and George Draper, the Hopedale
    Furnace Company, the Hopedale Machine Screw Company, the Northrop
    Loom Company, George Draper and Sons, the Dutcher Temple Company, the
    Sawyer Spindle Company and the Hopedale Elastic Goods Company. By
    1898 these (other than Elastic Fabric, I presume, which closed in Hopedale.
    William Lapworth then opened his Lapworth Elastic Fabrics in Milford.)) had
    all been merged to form the Draper Company, which in 1916 reorganized as
    the Draper Corporation.

Hopedale - February 2020

January ezine - Hopedale in 1920, Part 1   

February ezine - Hopedale in 1920, Part 2    

Hopedale in January 2020  

Hopedale in February 2019   

Recent deaths


Ezine Menu                  HOME

.

    Here you can see what was going on in the world on the day I was born.
    It's a jigsaw puzzle that I just finished. My sister-in-law, Maureen, gave it to
    me for Christmas. When I first dumped the 1000 pieces out on a table, I
    thought I might not finish it until next Christmas, but I kept at it, and here it
    is, just a little past Groundhog Day. It didn't help that most of the articles
    were on the same subject - the war. Interesting to note that although this
    was more than six months before Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was preparing
    for war. The article that goes from top to bottom on the left is about
    increasing the production of bombers. There's also an article about
    making it possible for college students to finish in three years, so that
    they'd graduate before being drafted.

    If you'd like to see a the page where you can read more than the
    headlines, click here.

                      Hopedale High School JV Basketball Team - 1961-62

    Thanks to Al Marzetta for sending the picture and the names.

    BACK ROW
    Jerry Rice, Dave Heron  Cal Mosher  Rick Frances, Ken Henderson, Fran Cheschi, Tom Daige, Mike
    Campanile, Steve Ostroski

    FRONT ROW
    Pete Marzetta, Chuck Espanet, Al Marzetta, Dave Digirolamo, Jim Stock, Steve Sardell, Rich Moore


                                                 Sports, Park and Pond Menu                       HOME   

    The Atkinson store in Spindleville. Thanks to David Atkinson
    for sending it. Thats his father and his grandfather in the
    picture. Later the store belonged to a couple named Hatt. They
    were there in 1955 when the flood that year washed what was
    both their store and their home down the river, The roof of the
    house can be seen in the picture below. More pictures of the
    1955 flood in Spindleville.

    Here's a Valentine's Day story for you - a wartime wedding. Below is part of General Draper's account of
    his marriage to Lilla Joy in 1862. Click here for the complete story, from his autobiography, Recollections
    of a Varied Career. It begins when the general, at that time a captain, had returned to Hopedale from the
    South, on furlough.

    After a family council we came to the conclusion that it would be better for us to be married before my
    return to the army, since Lilla would then be privileged to visit and care for me in case I should be ill or
    wounded.  This settled, it was decided that we should be married the next evening, the 15th of September,
    as I felt obliged to leave for the seat of war Tuesday.  Monday I visited Governor Andrew at Boston, to
    transact certain military business and to obtain, if possible, definite knowledge of the location of my
    regiment.  Concerning the latter I could learn nothing certainly, but I received an order to join it with the
    least possible delay.  I was unable to return home till the last train and did not reach the house till
    seven P.M., the hour of the wedding being eight.  At the appointed hour, or a little later, the ceremony
    was performed by my good friend, Rev. Adin Ballou, of whom I have before written, our immediate
    families and Mrs. Ballou being the only wedding guests.  My wife, like many other brides, wore a
    dress from Paris, -- not ordered for the occasion, but purchased by her there a year before, while
    traveling.  I was arrayed in a new uniform, with huge captain's straps upon the shoulders, a pair of
    new cavalry boots and white cotton gloves completing the inventory.  We were not married upon as
    long notice or in as much style as might be considered desirable to-day, but I don't think we lived the
    less happily for want of either.  My age at the date of my marriage was twenty years and five months,
    and my wife was nearly seventeen months younger, -- and from my experience I can recommend
    early marriages.

    Below are links to more photos of the Draper plant, rescued from
    the trash by Bob Anderson, during Draper's last years in Hopedale.
    .

Page 11 - pictures from inside the plant.

Page 12 - Building the West Foundry.

Page 13 - Making sand molds in the "old foundry."

    Sgt. Arthur Brown was shot down over Germany
    during World War Ii. Click here to see the story.

                        For Presidents' Day

    William Howard Taft was the only president to stay overnight in
    Hopedale. Here's the story.

    On his trip through the area, George Washington almost stayed
    overnight at the Ammidon Inn in Mendon, which was just a few
    hundred yards from the future Mendon/Hopedale town line. He
    made a stop, but the overnight stay didn't work out. Here's the story.

    A few times over the past 20 years I've done my
    "junk science" program at the library. I call it that
    because most of what I use is from throwaway
    items, much of it found at the recycling center.
    Among the "junk" items are a hand-cranked AC
    generator, a DC generator made from a cordless
    drill, milli and micro ammeters, and magnets
    salvaged from speakers.

Gov. Draper and President Taft at Draper's  home on Adin Street.

    Click here to go to a page with articles on the G%U
    eminent domain case, including the Milford News article
    with the headline above. Thanks to Dick Grady for it.

    Here's a mailing that arrived a few days ago. Nice local sound
    to it. Thought I should check it on the Charity Navigator site
    before making a donation. As you see below, they give it one
    star out of a possible four. I'll skip that one.

    Hopedale Pond on February 27 - the second "iceout" of
    this winter. Click here for the page on iceouts of the past.