At one time there was a Hopedale Coal Company and a Hopedale Ice Company. Eventually they joined to form Hopedale Coal & Ice. Ice was cut on Hopedale Pond and stored in a big icehouse on the west side, where the Gannett home is now. It was probably in the early1940s when they stopped getting ice from the pond and started making it. I remember ice being delivered to a few homes in my neighborhood on Oak Street in the 1950s. I don't know when that stopped, but I doubt is was still going on by the late fifties. The buildings that housed Coal & Ice were originally some of the Hopedale Stable buildings. The third picture was taken in 2002. The big building in that photo was first a Hopedale Stable barn and later was where the ice was made. After it was no longer used for that, it was operated as Hopedale Hardware for many years in the mid-twentieth century. It was razed a year or two ago - 2005 or 2006. The picture at the bottom was taken in May 2007. Thanks to Russ Dennett for assistance with this page.                    Now and Then Menu                          HOME