Bancroft Memorial Library // 1898

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The Bancroft Memorial Library on Hopedale Street in Hopedale, Massachusetts, was built in 1898 and is one of the finest examples of a Romanesque Revival style library in New England. The library’s benefactor, Joseph Burbier Bancroft (1821-1909), moved to Hopedale and joined the Hopedale Community in 1846, where he became connected with the Hopedale Machine Company founded by the Draper Family. Shortly afterward Mr. Bancroft entered into a partnership with Ebenezer and George Draper, and was put in charge of the cotton machinery department of the Draper Corporation. Joseph married Sylvia W. Thwing, sister of the wives of Ebenezer and George Draper. As he rose through the ranks of the Draper Company, he decided to fund a library as a gift to the company town. Designed by architect, C. Howard Walker of the Boston architectural firm Walker & Kimball, the library is constructed of granite and features arched entry at the facade with carved stone panel above. Before the building was completed, Sylvia died, and the library became a memorial in her memory by Joseph Bancroft.

Frank J. Dutcher House // 1904

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Located on Adin Street in Hopedale, this excellent turn-of-the-century mansion was built for Frank Jerome Dutcher, a manufacturer who worked for his father’s company before selling it to the Draper Corporation, later becoming a wealthy salesman. Blending Shingle, Queen Anne, and Arts and Crafts styles, the Frank J. Dutcher home sits atop a rock ledge and was designed by architect, Robert Allen Cook, who designed other buildings in town for the Draper Corporation and community, behind his original home that burned in 1903. The home features two massive fieldstone chimneys, shingled siding, and a series of dormers and bays that provide a rich dialogue along the long street-facing facade. In the mid-20th century, the property became a nursing home, known as Oakledge Manor. The building was recently bank-owned and it is unclear if the building was converted back to a single-family home, or remains a housing facility.

Warren W. Dutcher House // c.1860

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The finest example of the Second Empire style in the industrial village town of Hopedale, Massachusetts, is this stately residence at the beginning of Adin Street, which has been colloquially known as ‘Millionaire’s Row’ as it is lined with many large mansions owned by factory owners and managers. This is the Warren W. Dutcher House, built around 1860 for its namesake, a wealthy and well-connected manufacturer. Square in form, the house is capped by a concave mansard roof in slate, and features a cornice with paired brackets, round-headed dormer windows, and a central entry with door hood supported by oversized brackets all under the full-length porch. Warren Whitney Dutcher (1812-1880) was originally from North Bennington, Vermont, and in the 1850s, he invented a temple that worked better than one used by the Draper Corporation. are adjustable stretchers used on a loom to maintain the width and improve the edges of the woven fabric. George Draper bought an interest in it, and encouraged Mr. Dutcher to move to Hopedale to expand his operations. He moved to Hopedale in 1856, and built this home after a few years of managing the Dutcher Temple Company. After Warren Dutcher died in 1880, the home was inherited by his son, Frank Dutcher, until he built his own house on a lot behind his childhood home.

General Draper High School // 1927

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The General Draper Memorial High School is one of the many civic and institutional buildings in Hopedale Village that were donated to the small industrial community by members of the wealthy Draper Family, who operated the Draper Corporation Factory in town. The school was built in 1927 on land donated to the Town by Princess Margaret Bonocompagni, the youngest child of the late William F. Draper, who married Prince Andrea Boncompagni of Italy in 1916. The marriage ended in divorce by 1924 and years later, she had no need for the family home in Hopedale, and bequeathed the site to the community for a new high school in memory of her late father. General William Franklin Draper (1842-1910) was a Civil War veteran who became a politician and managed the Draper company in Hopedale, where he built a massive mansion for his family. The mansion was demolished and replaced by this Colonial Revival style High School, designed by New Hampshire-based architect, Chase R. Whitcher, the handsome structure has since been expanded at the rear to service the growing student population in town.

Urncrest // c.1875

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Located on Adin Street, a street of homes formerly owned by factory owners and managers in Hopedale, Massachusetts, you will find “Urncrest”, a stunning Queen Anne Victorian mansion. This home was originally built around 1875 for William Lapworth (1844-1937) an English-born weaving expert, who worked at Hopedale Elastics Co. and patented certain weaving processes for suspenders, boot webbing, and garters. Hopedale Elastics was absorbed by the Draper Corporation in 1890, and Lapworth “modernized” his home with profits from this sale. His formerly modest home was updated with a corner tower, large additions, wrap-around porch with porte cochere, and applied ornament. The detached carriage house was also expanded, where he added a coachman’s apartment.

Hopedale Community House // 1923

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Hopedale in the 1920s saw a civic building campaign led by George A. Draper (1855-1923), then treasurer of the Draper Corporation. Draper often talked about the need for a community center in Hopedale for his workers, and in 1919 decided to build one at his own expense. He commissioned architect Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. of Boston to design the Hopedale Community House which was intended to serve as a social and civic center for all Hopedale residents, as well as Draper Corporation employees residing in other towns. The building was opened in 1923, but sadly George Draper died before he could see it used. Colonial Revival in style, the building’s facade is dominated by a portico along the entire elevation with double-height Ionic columns. The slate hipped roof is capped by a square clock tower at the crest. The Community House included an assembly hall, a banquet hall that doubled as a gymnasium, a kitchen, rooms for smoking and cards and billiards, a ladies’ social room, the Knights of Pythias club room, and candlepin bowling lanes in the basement, all of which exist to this day.

Dutcher Street Grammar School // 1897

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The former Dutcher Street Grammar School in Hopedale, Massachusetts, is a great example of a Tudor Revival/Chateauesque style public school building that has been adaptively reused. Built in 1897, the Dutcher Street School was designed by Charles Howard Walker of the firm, Walker & Kimball, at a cost of $40,000. The school is built of red brick with granite trimmings and is one of the finest late-19th century school buildings in the state. The school closed in the late 20th century after the Draper Factory, the largest employer in town, closed in 1980. Instead of being demolished, the Dutcher Street School was renovated and given an addition to convert the building into condominiums, a great example of adaptive reuse!

Dr. Byron Brown House // c.1930

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Dr. Byron Freeman Brown (1902-1962) was born in Maine and was educated at Bowdoin College before moving to Boston for medical school. After he graduated, he married and accepted a position as a doctor at Milford Hospital, not far from Hopedale, Massachusetts. Dr. Brown and his wife, Veronica, had this cottage on Adin Street built around 1930. Distinguished by its stone veneer walls and steeply pitched red clay tile roof punctuated by dormers and symmetrical facade, the Dr. Brown House is a great example of a Colonial Revival style house with Arts and Crafts flair built in the inter-war period.

Harrison Block // 1889

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One of the few historic commercial buildings in Hopedale Village is this Romanesque Revival style example on Hopedale Street which, like so many other buildings in the village, was largely funded by members of the Draper Family. The commercial block was built in 1889 by Gen. William F. Draper and named in honor of President Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, as a multi-use building, containing a drug store, a retail, a club house on the second floor, a storage and cobbler at the rear of the building in the basement, and a lodge on the third floor for large meetings. Less ornate than many other buildings in town built for the Draper’s, all decorative features on the Harrison Block are confined to the façade. With original storefronts of wood and glass display windows at the ground floor, tripartite windows at the second floor, and large, round-arched windows at the third floor, evoking the Romanesque style of the Town Hall (also funded by the Draper Family) nearby. 

Hopedale Central Fire Station // 1915

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Hopedale’s Renaissance Revival Central Fire Station on Dutcher Street was designed by Milford architect, Robert Allen Cook, a favorite of the Draper Corporation, who had oversaw the design of the Draper Company Offices just five years earlier. Very similar in style and detailing to the Draper Offices, Cook created a fire station of brick and terra cotta with a monumental hose tower at the corner, all in the Renaissance Revival style. The building was largely funded by the company, who was by far the largest employer in town and had funded many municipal and institutional buildings in the community as part of the company town. As fire prevention was important for the Draper Corporation, they even funded some of the first fire trucks in Massachusetts, even for such a small community. The town has done a great job preserving this architectural landmark for over 100 years.