Hopes were indeed high when the cornerstones were laid in this town 19 miles southeast of Worcester, Massachusetts and 24 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island — the underrated East Coast city with one of America’s best little Italy neighborhoods. In fact, “hope” is in the name. Founded in 1842 as a Christian utopian community dedicated to temperance, abolition, non-violence, and women’s rights, Hopedale, Massachusetts put its best foot forward, creating the textile foundations that later supported the Draper Corporation, then the country’s biggest producer of cloth-making machines. Those days, however, are now long gone, and the massive mill that was the town’s centerpiece has been mostly wiped off the landscape. Adjacent to the site and Hopedale Pond, the Little Red Shop Museum tells the story of the town, the mill, and the textile industry.
The downtown that grew up around the factory remains, standing as an attractive, safe, and family-friendly bedroom community for people working in the Boston area. It also contains more than 500 historically and architecturally distinct properties, earning recognition as a National Register Historic District. The Drapers were behind several of them, including the Romanesque 1886 Town Hall and the Gothic Revival 1898 Draper Memorial Church. Another is the Eben S. Draper Jr. Mansion, a red-brick, Tudor Revival estate from 1926. Other Hopedale architecture highlights include the 1870 W. W. Dutcher House in the French Second Empire style, the Renaissance Revival Hopedale Fire Station from 1915, and the 1904 Frank J. Dutcher House, which blends Shingle, Colonial Revival, and Queen Anne styles.
Dreamy trails for hiking in Hopedale
The main attraction in Hopedale today is Hopedale Pond and Parklands. Once again, the mill played a leading role, creating a reservoir large enough to meet its industrial needs but also a natural escape for workers toiling all day on the machinery. Together with renowned landscape architect Warren Henry Manning — who also worked on a U.S. destination travel host Samantha Brown once called an underrated outdoor paradise — the Drapers developed 1,000 acres around the reservoir into a public park. This included picnic areas, tennis courts, a bathhouse and boathouse, a beach, and several miles of trails. Residents and visitors still enjoy these benefits, hiking the trails; paddling on the water; fishing for bass, pickerel, and crappie; and more. Keen eyes can also spy remnants of Hopedale’s past in fragments of bridges, buildings, and railroad tracks scattered throughout.
The surrounding communities offer further hiking opportunities. The most ambitious is the Milford Charles Upper Charles Trail, with 6.58 paved miles completed towards is 25-mile goal. Connecting to it in Milford is also a web of mountain biking trails that are part of the New England Mountain Bike Association. Five miles north of Hopedale, Peppercorn Hill Conservation Area has 283 acres of forest and wetlands threaded with numerous hiking trails. Head 8 miles west of Hopedale to reach Plummer’s Landing in Northbridge, where the Blackstone Canal towpath walk begins. In Mendon, just southwest of Hopedale, Inman Hill Wildlife Conservation Area and Quisset Wildlife Management Area also offer miles of trails.
Travel Tips for Hopedale
Two major airports lie within 45 miles of Hopedale — Boston Logan International Airport to the northeast and Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport to the south. Even closer is Worcester Regional Airport, which offers direct flights to New York and Florida. The nearest Amtrack station is in Worcester, a stop on the Lake Shore Limited line between Chicago and Boston. No buses serve Hopedale directly, although one runs from Framingham to Milford Regional Medical Center, less than a mile from downtown Hopedale. That makes a car all but required to reach and explore the town, with numerous routes leading in all directions. Travel times are about a half hour from Worcester, 40 minutes from Providence, and 50 minutes from Boston…