In Hopedale, one of our most distinctive attributes is the Little Red Shop.  This oldest industrial building in our town graces the shores of the Hopedale Pond on Hopedale Street, just across Freedom Street from the hulking remains of the vacant Draper complex.  The Red Shop was the original machine shop – built in the 1840s by the Hopedale Community and used by Ebenezer and George Draper – for what eventually became the Draper Corporation, the largest manufacturer of textile looms in the world and an instrumental player in the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The sentimental importance of this building became evident when the wealthy Drapers – who thought little of tearing down one of their mansions to build one even grander -- moved the Red Shop on three separate occasions rather than raze it. 

When the Draper Corporation turned the Little Red Shop over to the Town of Hopedale in 1976, it was with the understanding that it would be used as a museum.  Inside there are original Draper and Northrop looms and information on the history of the textile industry.

Sadly, the Little Red Shop today is in serious disrepair.  This building, where all Draper workers once went to collect their weekly paychecks, needs period-sensitive renovations to bring it back as a museum and a fascinating educational resource for people learning about the textile industry, the Industrial Revolution and the history of Hopedale and the Blackstone Valley.  

With the help of the Friends of Historic Hopedale, area residents, businesses, local government and local organizations, the restoration process has begun and the Little Red Shop Museum will open in the early fall of 2007.

 Please browse through our web pages and mark your calendar for upcoming events to be held in and around the Little Red Shop Museum.  Be sure to visit our on-line catalog for the latest books, DVDs, t-shirts and other Hopedale and Little Red Shop Museum Memorabilia.