From You Know Who:
For a long time, Natick was living in the back of my brain, behind memories of the firemen's carnival in my hometown and the time I hit a triple in old-guy baseball and seeing my first hardcore punk show at a grimy VFW Hall at age 17. I'd driven through the center of this old town a few times over the past 20+ years and somewhere in my mind I knew I would get back and make photos of what I didn't even really remember.
How's that for a welcome to the first of a two-part series about the town settled by white folks in 1651? And not just any Colonials, but John Eliot, the so-called Apostle to the Indians.
"Beginning at Natick, where he preached biweekly until he was past 80, Eliot was instrumental in organizing fourteen Indian villages," according to this article on the Boston University web site. "No whites were resident, and a form of self-government was instituted according to the pattern given in Exodus 18. Interested neighboring pastors were encouraged to participate in regular instruction. Although most of the evangelization was carried out by personally trained Indian evangelists, Eliot himself traveled on foot and on horseback, taxing his strength to the utmost, sometimes drenched by rain, in order to bring the gospel to the people. He brought cases to court to fight for Indian property rights, pleaded for clemency for convicted Indian prisoners, fought the selling of Indians into slavery, south to secure lands and streams for Indian use, established schools for Indian children and adults, translated the Bible (1663) and twenty other books into Indian languages, and attempted to train Indians to adopt a settled way of life."
I wrote about Eliot in a post about Newton Corner that included mention of a memorial to his efforts (see December 18, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 2)"). His legacy is complicated. He worked hard to make the lives of native people better, but he also did it within the context of converting them away from their spiritual beliefs and toward living an English lifestyle.
Anyway.
Natick Center is where the town's municipal offices are located, alongside numerous great old buildings and new murals and ghost signs and churches and fraternal organizations and restaurants and, well, you get the point. I made two trips here to make sure I captured as much of it all as I could. Here's some of what I found.
I'm going to start, logically, with the Natick Praying Indian Burial Ground.
The spot along Pond Street marks "the site of one of the burial places of the Natick tribe of Indians," according to the plaque in the photo above. "This land was set apart from the [Eliot] ministerial lot, as a burial place for the Indians, about 1750 and is all that remains of the original one hundred acres set aside May 11, 1719 by twenty Indian proprietors towards the support of their preacher."
The site also honors Native Americans who fought alongside the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
Moving to the northern edge of downtown, I found a building that, during my first swing through here, I knew I should've photographed. When a friend clued me in after the fact that this certain building was once home to a baseball factory, well, I knew I had to make a photo of it.
Founded in 1858, Harwood and Sons manufactured baseballs and softballs until 1976, when its parent company, Dart Industries, moved the operation to Georgia. The company is credited as the first in the world to make baseballs. The building was converted to condos in 1988.
(Cool electrical box art outside the former baseball plant.)
I love baseball, and have posted several times about America's (former?) favorite pastime. See March 31, 2019, "A Slow Jog Around the Bases of My Memory"; September 28, 2017, "No Yachts, No Mansions," which features photos and info about one of the oldest baseball fields in the country, located in Newport, Rhode Island; and June 18, 2011, "Play Ball?"
The old factory overlooks the Walnut Street railroad bridge, which crosses train tracks used by commuter trains (there is a stop here); Amtrak trains (which just fly on by); and freight trains.
Built in 1895, this plate girder bridge once carried auto traffic. These days, it's for pedestrians and bikes only.
Steps away, along Middlesex Avenue, I was quite taken by the House of Service clock and the old air pump.
This place is now home to Central Service Garage, which has been in business since 1979.
I'm going to continue skirting around the edges, before diving into all of the great stuff in the center of town.
A few streets away is Greg's Repair Service, which specializes in Audi and Volkswagen models.
(I love the juxtaposition of the angular old VW Thing with the smooth and classic bus.)
The shop has been in business for more than three decades.
Below is a building that was most recently a Santander Bank.
Located at the corner of Union and East Central streets, this place dates to around 1940. I'd love to know the history of this place.
OK, let's start moving into downtown. Below is the home of Aikido Natick on Summer Street.
The building dates to around 1900, but I haven't found any other information about it. Judging by its look and style, I'm guessing it was a market of some sort when it rose, and probably many other types of stores over the ensuing decades.
Across from the aikido place is the former home of Rudy's Valet Cleaning Service, as you can see in the ghost sign.
Built in 1943, this relatively plain brick building was also home to New England Shoe Repairing during that period. More recently, this place was home to The Kells Beer Company, which purchased the previous tenant, Barleycorn's Craft Brew. The taproom shut down in July 2021.
Next door is the lovely little mansard building below.
Allegedly built in 1900 (per the Natick assessor), this place seems to be in good condition, but I'm not sure if there are any tenants. Next door, on the corner of Summer and Main streets, is the really cool Walcott Building, which I had a hard time shooting photos of because of the sun. I did, however, manage to capture a cool detail on the Summer Street side
Erected in 1888 by shoe manufacturer John B. Walcott, this building had a two-story meeting and banquet hall, which served originaly as the headquarters of the, ahem, Improved Order of Red Men, per MACRIS. I'm not sure whether the "frescoed portraits of American Indian life in the vaulted ceiling" still exist. As for the Improved Order of Red Men, per Wikipedia, it is "a fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those assumed by men of the era to be used by Native Americans. Despite the name, the order was formed solely by, and for, white men. The organization claimed a membership of about half a million in 1935, but has declined to a little more than 15,000." I find it hard to believe -- OK, no I don't -- that this organization is ongoing.
Currently home to home decorating store Debsan, the Walcott Building was previously the location of R&L Furniture, as evidenced by the cool entryway ghost below.
Across Summer Street from the Walcott is the Clark Building, which dominates downtown Natick along Main Street.
As the plaque indicates, the Nathaniel Clark Block was originally built in 1872 on this site, but it burned in the downtown fire of 1874. Clark built the current structure on the same spot, increasing its length from 100 feet to 260. It originally housed various town offices, a concert/town hall, a district court, a bank, a newspaper office and other businesses.
Currently, stores along the ground floor include Optica Eyewear, Orange Theory Fitness, clothing store Baylee Bee and Lola's Italian Kitchen & Market, seen below.
(I love the leaded glass details on the Clark building, which MACRIS says is High Victorian Italianate architecture.)
Another prominent building on Main Street is the Leonard Morse Block.
Built in 1874, this High Victorian Gothic building is unlike anything else downtown. The builder was Leonard Morse, who during his life in Natick was a shoemaker, a factory owner and a real estate investor, per MACRIS. The MetroWest Medical Center in Natick was built as the Leonard Morse Hospital. The Morse building is also known as the Masonic Block, as that fraternal organization was its original tenant.
The Meridian Lodge A.F. & A.M. was chartered in 1797 by the one and only Paul Revere, who was a Freemason almost his entire adult life. "The pinnacle of his Masonic career came in 1794, when he was elected Grand Master of this united Massachusetts Grand Lodge. During his three-year term, Revere chartered 23 lodges and energetically carried out his duties," per the previously linked article.
The Masons continue to meet in this building.
Continuing the theme of fraternal organizations, let's check out the fantastic Odd Fellows Building, at the corner of South Main and Pond streets.
Currently home to a franchise of The Bagel Table, the Holly Chin Vocal Studio and other businesses, this great building rose in 1887 "to provide meeting and banquet quarters for the Takawambpait Odd Fellows Association, per MACRIS. "Daniel Takawambpait was a Christian Indian who succeeded John Eliot as minister of the first Church in Natick founded in 1660," MACRIS continues. "A tombstone marks his gravesite in South Natick, the original settlement of this town. The meeting hall is frescoed and furnished in solid cherry, and there are stained glass windows."
I'm unsure whether the chapter is still active.
Above is a view of the Odd Fellows Building from across a vacant lot at the corner of Pond and West Central streets. In July 2019, a fire tore through the buildings here, leaving them a total loss. Businesses in the circa-1900 block included King Wok restaurant, where the fire started; Iron Horse, an arts supply shop that reopened in Sherborn; a Christian Science Reading Room, which relocated; Nancy Kelley Dance Studio, which found a new home next door; Clip and Dip Dog Grooming, which has a new home; and Natick Center Graphics, which merged with Minuteman Press.
A new building is slated for development here, to be called The Block Natick. "[T]his innovative project will host a rotating mix of dynamic local art and retail, emerging brands, food and drink, when it makes its debut," per the development's web site.
Heading south along South Main Street, I found two terrific old buildings.
The Doherty Block, which MACRIS calls Victorian Eclectic, dates to 1896. It was built for Patrick Doherty, who operated a grocery and liquor store here, and lived in the building as well. That store was in business through the middle of last century, per MACRIS. In 1952, the Italian American Club used the property. Currently, the building is home to Mr. Sweeper Vacuum Cleaner Sales and George's Pizza.
Two doors down from the Doherty Block, at 49 South Main Street, is a place called the Doon Block.
Another Victorian Eclectic, this building rose in 1882, although MACRIS indicates that date may not be correct. The original owner was J.W. Doon & Sons, which was a coal, wood, grain and feed distributor, according to MACRIS. The building is currently home to Gallery 55, which replaced an old cobbler's shop, according to its web site.
The building was also home to Frank Lee Laundry, which was here for many years, but which appears to be out of business.
Along West Central Street, near the future home of The Block Natick, is the E.P. Clark Post of the American Legion #107 building. Wow, say that five times fast.
Currently home to C&T Design Center and farm-to-table restaurant Buttercup, this panel-brick building dates to 1880. The Legion post is no longer active here.
I had a good feeling about finding a ghost sign in Natick Center, and my gut was right.
Located on the side of the Buttercup building, this old sign was for Cleland, Healy and Underwood, a furniture company in business from the late 19th century until around World War I, when it became home to a district court, according to this article. There was also a Woolworth store here in the middle part of last century. The building had fallen into disrepair, but was renovated and upgraded by Stonegate Group in 2016.
Back north across Main Street, near the former baseball factory, is a great building with a tenant that caught my eye.
The Fiske Block on South Avenue was erected in 1875, yet another Victorian Eclectic building. This building was where John M. Fiske operated Fiske and Co., which sold stoves, hardware, plumbing supplies, paints and sporting goods, per MACRIS. While there are other cool buildings in this area that I could have made photos of, I chose this one because Listen Up Music, which sells new and used albums, CD's and cassette tapes, is my kind of place. I didn't shop there, but I might someday, as I do like to shop for records. The store has been in business since 1996.
I've saved the best Natick Center icon for last.
"Casey's Diner was first established in 1890 with a 4-stool, horse drawn wagon that Fred Casey purchased from the Brooks family," according to the little eatery's web site. "The current diner was built in 1922 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and has been located in downtown Natick since 1927. It has passed from father to son for four generations. Famous for its steamed hotdogs, Casey's is a local landmark in Natick, serving generations of families for more than a century. The Diner is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the oldest operating diners in Massachusetts (possibly even the United States!)."
Hot dog! That's some fantastic history. One of these days, I need to grab a bite at Casey's, and then head over to Listen Up to do some record shopping.
Make sure to check for part two of my review of Natick Center, in which I will feature cool murals. a neat ice cream shop, an arts center in a former fire station, an armory that's been turned into apartments, and much more.
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