Hopkinton MA 300th Anniversary

June 25, 2015

In honor of Hopkinton’s 300th birthday, the 300th Anniversary Committee, HPTA, Hopkinton Education Foundation, Mom’s Club, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have all joined forces to create a fun summer scavenger hunt for Hopkinton kids of all ages! 

The clues are below.  Please find as many as you can, and bring your answers to the Light Up the Night Celebration on Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 4 pm.  There will be a Scavenger Hunt tent behind the High School on Sparkle Field where you can turn in your answers, get some fun prizes, and enter into a drawing for some even bigger prizes!  You can write your answers down, or take photos of the locations when you find them.  If you do take some fun photos of yourself at the locations, please bring them to the tent on Sparkle Field so that we can post them.

You can work alone or in teams – it’s ok to ask your parents and friends to help you!  This is meant to be fun for everyone, so grab a friend and get started!

If you are having trouble with your research, there are very helpful people at the Library and Historical Society who can give you some hints:

Here are the clues – good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

Category:  Schools

•  Where would you have gone to first grade in 1932?

• Where is the school with the nickname “Stedgie Prep”?

• Where would you have gone to school if you lived on Exchange Street in 1890?

Category:  Historical Buildings

• Hopkinton used to have a train station near Hopkinton Lumber.  Where is the depot and ticket window now?

• One of the oldest buildings in Hopkinton (@1745) has been an Inn, a Tavern, and a home.   It was made from granite quarried behind where the Center School is.  Where is this building?

• The town just voted to purchase this historical building.  It is on Rt. 135, and was a place where tolls were collected from travelers entering into Hopkinton. 

• Hopkinton’s First Meeting House was on the Common and is no longer in existence.  The Second Meeting House is still in existence, but called by a different name.  There is a cornerstone on that building with three dates on it:  1724, 1882, 1939.  There were two time capsules in the cornerstone. 

• Can you find the cornerstone, and its former contents?  They are in a public building downtown. 

• Which item is your favorite? 

• What do you think we should put into the next Time Capsule?

Category:  Churches

•  Where would you have gone to church in 1860 if you were Catholic?

• Where was the original location of St. Paul’s Church?

• Which church in Woodville is attached to the former Woodville Library Annex?

Category:  Cemeteries

• There is a monument on the Common listing the names of 14 veterans.  Their mothers’ graves are marked with Gold Star Mother markers.  Can you find some?

• In Mt. Auburn Cemetery, there is a grave marked with an arrow where a Native American traveling minstrel is buried.  Can you find it?

• Can you find the large acorn gravestone in Evergreen Cemetery?

• What are The Tombs? Can you find them?

• The Bear Hill Cemetery on Pond St has several soldier from the French and Indian War buried there.  What is the oldest grave you can find?

Category:  Statues

• Can you find the Doughboy Statue?  There is a similar statue in a cemetery.  Can you find that one, too?

• What is the newest statue in Hopkinton?

• When horses were the main method of transportation, there were water troughs on the Common for people to give their horses a drink.  Can you find where it is today?

Category:  Lakes

• Where does the Charles River begin?

• Can you find the lake with the waterfall?

• Where would local children in Hopkinton go to swim in 1920?

Category:  Into the Woods!

• Town boundaries used to be marked with granite markers.  Letters on each side of the marker indicated which town began on each side of the marker.  There are many still existing in Hopkinton today – some are in the woods, some are right on the side of the street in plain view.  How many can you find?

• Hopkinton has a wildlife preserve.  Can you find it?  What can you learn about it? 

• Have you heard about the dinosaur tracks in Hopkinton?  Can you find them?

• If you lost your cow in the 1700s, where would it be waiting for you?

• Hopkinton used to have a resort spa, with a natural springs.  Can you find the springs? 

If you need help in the woods, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will be available to help you.  You can meet them at the Gazebo on the Town Common on the following dates and times:

Saturday, July 25  at 2 pm

Sunday, July 26 at 2pm

Friday, August 7 at 10 am

Sunday, August 9 at 10am

Saturday, August 29 at 11am

Monday, August 31 at 2 pm

Saturday, September 5 at 2pm