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Walking Tour Welcome to Hopedale, originally part of
Milford, was started in 1841
as a "Dale of Hope" by Reverend Ballou eager to build a truly
"utopian society" based on Practical Christianity principles. However,
Hopedale was incorporated as a town in 1886 after financial difficulties beset
the Reverend and his following. For many decades, the Draper Corporation
became the town's major producer (of looms) and its largest employer as well as
the world's largest textile machinery producer. Sadly, the factory, closing in
the mid 1970s,stands as a decaying reminder to times past when mill towns
flourished.
Hopedale has worked diligently to resolve its
economic difficulties and is a small, residential community gifted with the
Spindleville Pond and the Hopedale Pond which provide recreational and woodland
areas. Its government is that of Open Town Meeting held on the second
Tuesday in April with a three member Board of Selectmen. House prices rose 9.2%
in 2002 to an average of $334,500 and taxes are two tiered with homes at $14.66
and commercial rates at $23.88. The 2000 population stood at almost 6000
people, but over 9,000 are expected to populate this 5.2 square mile town by
2010. There are 1105 students at three public schools and the regional
vocational, Blackstone Valley Tech and the private ungraded Ledges school. 79%
of students go to 4 year colleges with another 7% attending 2 years of higher
education. There is one Catholic Church, Sacred Heart of Jesus on Hopedale
Street, and a Union Evangelical Church on Dutcher Street as well as a Unitarian
Church on Hopedale Street.Town services include weekly curbside pickup
and every other week recycling pickup.
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Adin
Ballou / Dan Malloy's History
/ Adin Ballou Society / Town
Government Site
Helpful
Phone #s / General Resources /
National Register of Historic Places
Recent
Headlines: "The Rite of Spring" by
Hopedale High School Junior Developer
Looks to Change Zoning to Industrial
Assets: Hopedale Pond - Freedom State
Park (?) - Hopedale Village Cemetery - Public Library (Adin Ballou - historic),
Factory Pond, Draper Mills, Town Cemetery, Hopedale Airport and growing
Industrial Park, Historic Red Shop
THE LITTLE RED
SHOP
12 Hopedale Street, Hopedale, MA 01747 (north of Town Hall) 508-473-2779
fax: 508-634-8095
Contact: Dan Malloy Email address: danm41@netscape.com
Website: www.geocities.com/daninhopedale
ADIN BALLOUS HOUSE
64 Dutcher St, Hopedale, MA 01747 508-634-1076
Contact: Jeanne Kinney Website: www.adinballou.org
Adin Ballou (1803-1890), the founder of the
Hopedale utopian community, was a leading pacifist, socialist, and abolitionist.
BANCROFT MEMORIAL
LIBRARY
50 Hopedale Street, Hopedale, MA 01747 508-634-2209
fax: 508-634-8095
Contact: Merrily Sparling Email address: msparlin@cwmars.org
Town
Profile - Community
Info - HelpfulPhone
#s - Bancroft
Library - SchoolDirectory -
Historical
Hopedale Below: Hopedale 1889
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