Hopedale Community House

Hopedale Community House

In Adin Ballou Park, a statue of Hopedale's founder presides over a beaten front doorstep and boot scraper. These relics of the commune era come from the Jones homestead, where early Community members held meetings.

The Jones farmhouse was the “home base” for the Hopedale experiment. After crossing over that threshold, Ballou and others made their plans to build commune from the ground up. These kindred spirits (who believed in abolition, temperance, and equality of the sexes) imagined that others would want to make Practical Christian communities, too, and that they could all transform the world. Together, they worked hard to make “Fraternal Community No. 1” a reality. Ballou’s own house was once on this land. This is where he wrote his sermons and worked on The Practical Christian, the Community paper. The Ballou house was moved to Dutcher Street in 1900, and this statue was put in its place. The home still stands, but it is a private residence today.