Lot 1307
1852, 3¢ dull red, type I, slightly defective, cancelled by straight line "Paid" handstamp on cover to Westminster, Ms., postmarked Milford, Ms. with "The Hopedale Community" printed propaganda at the left.Scott No. 11 Estimate $150 - 200.
The Hopedale Community was founded in Milford, Massachusetts, in 1842 by Adin Ballou. He and his followers purchased 600 acres of land on which they built homes for the community members, chapels and the factories for which the company was initially formed. The area was later split from Milford and became the town of Hopedale, Massachusetts.
Ballou believed that he could create a utopian community blending the features of a factory town with those of a religion-based commune. The community stood for temperance, abolitionism, women's rights, spiritualism and education. 14 years after the land was purchased, Hopedale went bankrupt.
Realized: $130