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Natick Common, Halloween 2004
'Natick' (
IPA Pronounciation ) is a town in
Middlesex County,
Massachusetts,
United States. Natick is located near the center of the
MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 32,170 at the 2000 census. Only 15 miles west of
Boston, Natick is considered part of the
Greater Boston area. The
center of population of Massachusetts is located in Natick
[1].
Origin of the name
The name Natick originates from the language of the Native American tribe known as the
Massachusett, meaning ''place of hills.'' The original settlement, on the southern side of Natick, is a hilly area. The southern side of town is called "South Natick," but is not a separate civic entity.
Natick is affectionately known by its residents as the ''Home of Champions'', recalling the performance of the town's firefighting team at the 1891 National Hook and Ladder competition.
History
Natick was first settled in
1651 by
John Eliot, a Puritan missionary born in
Widford,
Hertfordshire,
England who received a commission and funds from England's
Long Parliament to settle the
Wampanoag Indians on both sides of the Charles river. They were called
Praying Indians - Eliot was best known for attempting to preserve the culture (minus the religion) of the Native Americans by putting them in planned towns where they could continue by their own rule. The colonial government placed such settlements in a ring of villages around Boston as a defensive strategy. Natick was the first and best documented of such settlements. The land was granted by the General Court, part of the Dedham Grant.
A school was set up, a government established, and the Indians were encouraged to convert to
Christianity. During
King Philip's War, the Natick Indians were sent to
Deer Island (Massachusetts). Many died of disease and cold, and the Indians who survived found their homes destroyed. The Indian village did not recover, and the land held in common by the Indian community was slowly sold off to white settlers to cover debts, and by
1725 most of the Natick Indians had drifted away.
In 1775, both English and Praying Indian citizens of Natick participated in the Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, as well as serving in the Continental Army. The names of the Praying Indian soldiers from Natick are memorialized on a stone marker, along with all of Natick's Revolutionary War veterans, on stone markers in today's Natick Center.
The town was officially incorporated in
1781.
Henry Wilson, born in
1812 and eighteenth
Vice President of the United States, lived most of his life in Natick as a shoemaker and schoolteacher, and is buried there. He is the namesake of one of Natick's two middle schools.
Though Natick was primarily a farming town, the invention of the sewing machine in
1858 led to the growth of several shoe factories. The business flourished and peaked by
1880, when Natick, with twenty-three operating factories, was third in the nation in the quantity of shoes produced. The shoes made in Natick were primarily heavy work shoes with only one or two companies adding lighter dress shoes to their line. Natick was famous for its
brogan, a heavy ankle-high boot worn by soldiers in the
American Civil War.
The wound core for a more resilient ball was developed by John W. Walcott and combined with the figure-eight stitching devised by Col. William A. Cutler. It was manufactured by the firm of H. Harwood & Sons in their factory built in
1858 - the first plant in the world for the manufacture of baseballs.
In
1874, a great fire in downtown Natick demolished 18 business blocks, two shoe factories, the Town Hall, Natick's only fire engine house and the Congregational Church, as well as many private homes. Though no lives were lost, the loss of property was greater in proportion to the town's wealth than the
Great Chicago Fire of
1871. In
1875, Natick's new Central Fire Station was completed on Summer Street and opened with grand ceremony on the same city block where the great fire was first discovered. The Central Fire Station is now the home of The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), a community performing arts venue.
Natick is home of the 2005 Division 2 Super Bowl champion high school football team. The Natick Redmen finished the season 13-0 with a win over
Foxboro High School, and finished the year ranked #2 in Massachusetts.
Natick is also well known for playing host to a portion of the
Boston Marathon every
Patriots Day. The Marathon route includes miles 8 to 12 and passes through the center of town along
Route 135.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 41.6
km² (16.0
mi²). 39.1 km² (15.1 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 6.04% water.
Demographics
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 32,170 people, 13,080 households, and 8,528 families residing in the town. The
population density was 823.7/km² (2,132.9/mi²). There were 13,368 housing units at an average density of 342.3/km² (886.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.02%
White, 1.63%
African American, 0.11%
Native American, 3.86%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 0.77% from
other races, and 1.56% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.97% of the population.
There were 13,080 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were
married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $69,755, and the median income for a family was $85,715. Males had a median income of $51,964 versus $41,060 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $36,358. About 1.7% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Natick has
representative town meeting form of government with a Board of Selectmen and a Town Administrator.
Education
Public schools
Natick has a public school system.
Natick High School is the main public high school in the town.
The public middle schools include Wilson Middle School and Kennedy Middle School.
There are various Elementary schools including: Johnson Elementary School, Bennett-Hemenway Elementary School, Lilja Elementary School, Memorial Elementary School, and Brown Elementary School.
References in popular culture
In the ''
Family Guy'' episode ''
Da Boom'',
Peter and his family travel to Natick in search of a
Twinkie factory after an apocalyptic
Y2K incident. The Hostess factory referenced in the episode likely refers to Natick's famous
Wonder Bread factory, which has been torn down and is being replaced by an extension of (Chicago based) General Growth's
Natick Mall.
[2]
Notable residents
In alpabetical order:
★
Horatio Alger, Jr., minister, author of children's books with a ''rags to riches'' theme, settled in Natick in 1860 and built his family home in South Natick.
★
Thomas S. Allen, American composer
★
James Bamford, author, journalist who writes about the world of United States intelligence agencies
★
Catie Curtis, American singer-songwriter
★
Paul Dellegatto, chief meteorologist for
WTVT-TV, the FOX owned and operated station in Tampa, was born in Natick and graduated from Natick High School in 1978.
★
Dave Epstein, Meteorologist WCVB-TV, Founder of Growing Wisdom an instructional gardening website free to the public.
[3]
★
William Finn, Tony-winning composer
★
Doug Flutie, NFL and CFL veteran who attended high school in Natick, before going to Boston College. Retiring from the
New England Patriots after the 2005-06 season, Doug remains a Natick resident.
★
Alison Fraser, Broadway performer and two-time
Tony Award nominee who grew up in Natick and graduated from Natick High in 1973.
★
Susan Still-Kilrain, graduate of
Walnut Hill School in Natick, is a former
NASA astronaut and pilot of
space shuttle Columbia flights
STS-83 and
STS-94.
★
Walter Kolosky, Noted music writer, author of the book “Power, Passion and Beauty- The Story of The Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra."
★
Harold Kushner, rabbi and author of many books including "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"
★
Dan LaCouture, professional hockey player, current
New Jersey Devil, former
Boston Bruin, born in
Hyannis, Massachusetts
★
Rick McKay, award-winning filmmaker and producer/director of several definitive documentaries on the history of
Broadway theater
★
Meg Mallon, professional golfer on the
LPGA Tour and twice winner of the U.S. Women's Open
★
Jim Nollman, author, composer, music producer
★
John O'Hurley, actor most famous for his role as
J. Peterman on the
Emmy-winning TV series,
Seinfeld
★
Al Parker (Andrew R. Okun), gay porn icon was born in Natick and graduated from Natick High School in 1969.
★
Rob Patterson, former guitarist for
Otep, touring guitarist for
Korn
★
Rene Rancourt, singer of the national anthem at
Boston Bruins home games for the last 30 years
★
Jonathan Richman, proto-punk rock icon and founder of
The Modern Lovers
★
Harold Shapero, American composer
★
Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist, author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, married Natick native Calvin Stowe and lived for a time in Natick.
★
Alexander Wheelock Thayer, United States consul at
Trieste in
1859 and author of a biography of
Ludwig van Beethoven published in
1866.
★
Eric Van, statistician
★
Waban, 17th Century tribal chief
★
Henry Wilson, the eighteenth Vice President of the United States, worked in Natick (as a cobbler)
★
Matt Vachon, lead guitarist for chin ho! now known as the
Andrew Smith Disaster graduated from Natick High School in 1980. Currently resides in Vermont.
Susan Wornick, reporter for
WCVB-TV in Boston
Points of interest
★ The
U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (SSC), a complex of military R&D facilities, produces military-use items such as field rations, personal protective field equipment, and specialized uniforms.
★ The
Natick Collection, managed by
General Growth Properties, Inc. of Chicago, is one of Boston's premier shopping centers and recently completed a major expansion.
★
BJ's Wholesale Club Corporate Headquarters.
★
Cognex Corporation Corporate Headquarters.
★
The MathWorks Corporate Headquarters.
★
Boston Scientific Corporate Headquarters. This site used to be the HQ for mini-computer manufacturer
Prime Computer, Inc. Before Prime,
Carling ran a Black Label brewery there.
★ The
Walnut Hill School is one of the nation's leading private secondary schools, offering particular emphasis in the studio and performing arts. Walnut Hill graduates more students to the
Juilliard School than any other secondary school in the world.
★ The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), located in Natick's historic Central Fire Station, is a favored performance venue for musicians in jazz, folk, classical, and rock genres. TCAN also hosts theatrical productions by the TCAN Players and children's classes in theatre and dance.
★
Dug Pond is a small body of water used mainly for recreation.
★
Casey's Diner, constructed in
1922, is one of the oldest operating ten-stool
diners in the United States. Casey's Diner is diminutive in size at only 10 feet by 20-1/2 feet, and was constructed by the Worcester Lunch Car Company in
Worcester, Massachusetts. Famous for its steamed hot dogs, Casey's originated as a horse-drawn lunch wagon that was parked on Natick Common.
★ The Boden Lane Cemetery is a very small burial site established in 1815. Although the cemetery was established in that year, many of the gravestones are dated even earlier than this date. Some of the people buried this cemetery, go back to the times of the Revolutionary War. The Cemetery is a very interesting site to visit, for many of the gravestones are so old that the words on them are too faded to see. Some gravestones, are just little pieces of rock with nothing but initials on them! The cemetery is located on Boden Lane, to the right of Beaver Dam, and directly across the street from the Chabad Center of Natick.
★ The Natick Community Organic Farm located in South Natick is a fully functioning farm open year round. It has three greenhouses, some large gardens, and a host of animals including three breeding pigs and two cows.
★ The
Bacon Free Library, which opened in 1881, is located at 58 Eliot Street. This building was a gift to the community under the will of Oliver Bacon who died in 1878. It has been operating as a public library ever since. The library overlooks the Charles River in South Natick.
★ The Natick Historical Society located in the lower level of the
Bacon Free Library. Archives and exhibits on
John Eliot and Praying Indians, natural history collections, life during colonial times, early republic and industrial revolution, memorabilia of famous Natick citizens.
See also
★
Greater Boston
★
MetroWest
★
Representative town meeting
References
External links
★
Natick Photos
★
Natick official website
★
Natick Retail
★
Bacon Free Library
★
Natick Historical Society
★
Brief history of Natick
★
The Center for Arts in Natick
★
Natick's Strategic Planning Initiative
★
History of Chief Waban & His Conversion & Relocation to Natick
★
Clarks Block Downtown, What if?
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