Main Street Milford a few years after the village of Hopedale became a separate town. |
Hopedale History April 1, 2017 No. 321 Opinions on Separation, Part 1 Hopedale in March
Library by the Upton Historical Society. Photos from outside the plant. (The Freedom Street side and the parking lot.) Photos from inside the Draper plant. Recent additions to existing hope1842.com pages include Hopedale High Alumni Deaths (List from the 2014 alumni newsletter added.) The 1955 flood in Spindleville (Four of the UHS photos added.) Deaths
Twenty-five years ago - April 1992 - Serb troops, following a mass rebellion of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo. A Miami jury convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel. The acquittal of 4 police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles. The riots will last for 6 days resulting in 53 deaths and over a $1 billion in damages before order is restored. Fifty years ago - April 1967 - The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) takes its maiden flight. Large demonstrations are held against the Vietnam War in New York City and San Francisco. The march, organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, from Central Park to the United Nations drew hundreds of thousands of people. Montreal, Quebec, Expo 67, a World's Fair to coincide with the Canadian Confederation centennial, officially opens. Muhammad Ali refuses military service. He is stripped of his boxing title and barred from professional boxing for the next three years. The news above is from Wikipedia. For Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years ago, see below this text box. <><><><><><><><><><> Opinions on Separation, Part 1 With the signature of Gov. George D. Robinson, Hopedale became a town on April 7, 1886. The proposal to separate from Milford had created a huge controversy, and the several Milford newspapers of the time had printed a large number of articles, letters, editorials and ads on the subject. A number of newspapers in other Massachusetts towns and cities also published opinions on the matter. Here are a few of them. Massachusetts appears to have a mania for creating towns, which in many instances may be for the interest of all concerned, but in such a place as Milford, it is suicidal. In that place a little manufacturing village wishes to secede, merely on account of high taxes. One family, embracing several corporate firms, appears to be the only party who will be benefitted, and it looks seriously like a tax dodging scheme. - West Newbury Messenger It is alleged that the people of the town of Upton are taking an active interest in the efforts being made by the Drapers to have the village of Hopedale made into a separate town from Milford, and the following theory is advanced to account for it. Hon. William Knowlton & Sons occupy a similar social and financial position in relation to the village of West Upton, in the town of Upton, that the Drapers do in the village of Hopedale. It is estimated that if the move to make Hopedale a separate town be carried in the legislature, it will be followed by a move on the part of the Knowltons to have West Upton incorporated as a town, which would be opposed by the other portion, including Upton Centre. It is further surmised that in case these two objects of the wealthy interested were accomplished, a railroad would be built by the Drapers and Knowltons from some point on the line of the M.F. and P. road to Grafton or vicinity, through West Upton and Hopedale, this making a new line from Providence to Worcester. - Boston Herald
editor of the Milford paper that reprinted it. The paper added, "Mansfield, Fitchburg and Providence railroad is good. We judge that the Republican editor is not familiar with the railroad geography of this section of Massachusetts The movement to set off Hopedale from Milford to form a new town seems to have brought a storm of personal abuse upon those who originated the scheme. Such a fact is in itself a strong argument in favor of division, for the reason that the unfairness with which the people of Hopedale have been treated is thus made manifest. - Natick Bulletin It is highly probably that the attention of the next Legislature will be called to the proposition to divide the town of Milford. If the question comes up, we cannot imagine that it will have any substantial support. Milford ought not to be divided, and the unruly child Hopedale should receive a sound castigation for its rebellious conduct. - Brookline Chronicle The question of dividing the town of Milford by the secession of Hopedale is one which is likely to come before the next Legislature. The Milford Journal, as an intelligent, public spirited paper, is strenuously opposed to the scheme. Its reasons are sound and may have application elsewhere. - Attleboro Chronicle George Draper & Sons and others interested in the manufacturing village of Hopedale in the town of Milford will ask the Legislature to make Hopedale a town. It contains about 1000 population of the 10,000 making up the whole town, including 200 of the 1800 voters. The Milford Journal earnestly opposes the scheme for a separation. - Springfield Republican Milford people are discussing a proposition to divide that busy, pushing place, by making a new town of the village of Hopedale. The conditions are such as usually exist in such cases, the smaller part being some distance from the general business centre. But we question the advisability of these divisions, especially in this instance, when there appears to be no special grievances, and the Hopedale people will be very likely to find that they will do better in the end by remaining a part of Milford, which has always appeared to us a very desirable place to abide in. - Waltham Record. Ezine Menu Milford Menu HOME . |
Hopedale News - April 1992 |
Hopedale News - April 1967 |
Hopedale News - April 1917 |
Railroad history makes for many very convoluted stories. It may be that the Mansfield, Fitchburg and Providence Railroad mentioned in the Boston Herald article on this page, was at some point taken over by the Old Colony Railroad. By Charles Eben Fisher - The Story of the Old Colony Railroad, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? curid=14778447 |