Hopedale Center c. 1895 Lower right - Joseph and Sylvia Bancroft house. On the street, just past the house, is a horse-drawn wagon watering the street to keep the dust down. The house is still there, next to the library. Beyond the Bancroft house are two houses, later moved or razed. Where the nearer one is, is now the site of the Bancroft Library, built in 1898. Next in line is the Harrison Block, the building now used as a pizza parlor, hairdresser place and apartments. Beyond that, although it seems rather close to the pizza place, appears to be the Town Hall, built in 1887. The house across from the Bancroft place was the home of Joseph and Syliva's daughter, Lilla Bracken Pratt. The house in the middle of the picture was the home of Sylvia Bancroft's brother, Almon Thwing. It was eventually razed and replaced with the house that occupies that lot now (corner of Hope and Hopedale streets), where Lura (Bancroft) Day and her husband, Charles, lived. It's possible that escaped slaves stayed there from time to time in the pre-Civil War days. Beyond the Thwing house is the block where the Community House now stands. On the right side is the home of George and Hannah (Thwing) Draper. On the left is a house that I believe was moved to Hope Street, between the gym and the beginning of Centennial Street. Some clothes hanging on a line can be seen behind the house. Also seen on this block are a couple of barns, sheds, and some apple trees. Just past the George Draper house is the Unitarian Church. It was built in 1860 and replaced with the church that stands on the same site now in 1898. Behind the Unitarian Church, at top center, in the General Draper house. In the 1920s, Princess Margaret Boncompagne, daughter of General William and Susan Preston Draper, had the house demolished and donated the land to the town to be used as the site of a new high school. According to the agreement with the princess, the school was to be known, for at least fifty years, as General Draper High School. A little in from the top left is the Warren Dutcher house. In the corner at the bottom left, you can see just a bit of the tower on the fire station that once stood across from the present site of Adin Ballou Park. Short Stories Menu Milford - Hopedale 1880 - 1899 HOME |