Hopedale Pond

    The picture at the top, taken from the home of the photographer, Edwin Darling at 54 Freedom Street,
    looks down over the town park and onto Hopedale Pond. The structure on the left is the Hopedale
    Coal & Ice Company icehouse. The building on the right is the Henry Patrick icehouse. The second
    and third photos show field day activities on the pond. The two with the wooden bridge with people on
    it show Second Bridge, aka Rawson's Bridge, built in 1900 and raised in 1901 to be high enough to let
    boats pass under. In 1928, the bridge was replaced by the fieldstone structure that became known as
    the Rustic Bridge. So what was considered to be the first bridge? It might have been the one at
    Freedom Street, but I'm thinking that the name more likely referred to Cutler's Bridge. which was at
    about the midpoint of the length of the pond. The pictures down through the first two  bridge photos
    were made from Darling's negatives. The ones below those are copies of Darling's prints from an
    album at the Bancroft Library, except for the one at the bottom which might be the earliest existing
    picture of the bridge as it is today. That one is from a Draper negative.

       
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    A rustic bridge of serviceable design was constructed at
    Second Bridge (so called), enabling communication by
    foot or team with the Park land on the west side of the
    river. Report of the Park Commissioners, 1900.
Aug 23, 1903