Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Template:Infobox Town MA
Natick 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].
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.
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 known by residents (though not recognized by the Commonwealth) as "South Natick." The name Natick is pronounced NAY-tick, not NAT-ick (IPA: [neɪtɪk]).
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.
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.
Natick was also the birthplace of figure-eight stitching for baseballs. 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.
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.
In the cartoon Family Guy, 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]
