Official
Town of Hopedale
website
Dan
Malloy's Wonderful Site
Click -
Hopedale Walking
Tour
Click -
MHC
Reconnaisance Town Survey
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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