Natick, MA

Natick, Massachusetts has a rich past that stretches back to 1651, when Puritan missionary John Eliot established it as one of the first “Praying Indian” towns for converted Native Americans. Over the centuries it transformed from farmland into an industrial community, notably in shoes and baseball manufacturing. A major downtown fire in 1874 destroyed much of the center—business blocks, factories, the Congregational Church—but the town was rebuilt with striking Gothic and Romanesque Revival architecture, especially around Natick Center. Landmarks include the Bacon Free Library (1881), the Harwood Baseball Factory (first factory in the U.S. to manufacture baseballs), the Stephen Bacon House from circa 1704, the Rev. Stephen Badger House, Dug Pond with its beach and trails, and Cochituate State Park. Today Natick blends colonial history, natural beauty, and modern civic life.