Continuing north along Hopedale Street to Dutcher Street, there are rows of duplex company houses constructed in the early 1900s. For decades, the Drapers sought to keep workers local by constructing quality housing in Hopedale. Today, one of the most lasting legacies of the Draper Corporation is the collection of award-winning, internationally recognized homes commissioned by the company to fill up the town. Hopedale residents living in Draper housing even had access to a small “army” of people providing regular maintenance. The Drapers implemented an efficient system of garbage collection and constructed a sewage system that was connected to every house in town by the late 1890s. All houses had water, gas, electricity, and indoor plumbing by 1910. 
These homes differ from other units of housing built by the Drapers and other factory owners in the area. What sets them apart? To start, these duplexes are considerably larger and more elaborate than most multi-family housing units constructed in the Blackstone Valley. Everyone living in them also had access to shared green spaces and all yards were highly visible as well as interconnected. The Prospect Heights section in nearby Milford was also home to Draper employees, many of whom were recent immigrants to the United States. Those residences were more typical of what a wage earner in a factory could expect from employee housing. After looking at the Draper homes, turn right on Dutcher Street to see Adin Ballou's house (#64 Dutcher St). Note its size relative to the larger worker homes that came half a century later. Then, continue down the street to see the brick Dutcher Street School, now condominiums, and the Hopedale House on the left. This former rooming house with over one hundred rooms provided housing for single Draper employees. 
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Last updated: August 26, 2022