Welcome to Natick

Natick is a town in Middlesex County about 18 miles west of Boston by road, in the MetroWest region between the Charles and Sudbury river basins. It pairs a brick downtown at Natick Center and the historic village of South Natick on the Charles River with Lake Cochituate, the Cochituate Rail Trail, two Framingham/Worcester Line stations, and the Natick Mall on Route 9.

About Natick

The name comes from the Massachusett language. In 1651 the Puritan missionary John Eliot founded Natick in what is now South Natick as the first of his Praying Towns for Native converts, laid out along three streets beside the Charles River with a footbridge and a fish weir. Eliot and Native translators produced the first Bible printed in America, in the Massachusett language. During King Philip's War in 1675 the Native community was forcibly removed to Deer Island in Boston Harbor, where many died, and afterward their land was gradually sold to English settlers.

Native and English residents served together in the Revolution, and Natick was incorporated as a town in 1781. The railroad arrived in the mid-1830s, the center shifted north to the depot, and by 1880 Natick had 23 shoe factories and ranked third in the nation in shoe production. A fire in 1874 destroyed much of downtown, which was rebuilt in brick. Henry Wilson, a Natick shoemaker, became the 18th Vice President of the United States, and Horatio Alger and Harriet Beecher Stowe both lived in South Natick. Natick borders Wayland to the north, Weston to the northeast, Wellesley to the east, Dover to the southeast, Sherborn to the southwest, and Framingham to the west.

Getting Around

Natick has two MBTA Framingham/Worcester Line stations, Natick Center downtown and West Natick on Route 135, with trains to Back Bay and South Station. The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority runs local buses. Route 9 crosses the north side of town, Route 27 runs north and south through Natick Center, Route 135 runs east and west through downtown and West Natick, and Route 16 follows Eliot Street through South Natick. The Mass Pike's Natick/Framingham exit is just over the line in Framingham. The paved Cochituate Rail Trail runs about 3.7 miles from Natick Center past Lake Cochituate to Saxonville in Framingham.

Natick Real Estate

Natick real estate ranges from 18th-century houses in South Natick to Victorian homes near downtown and postwar neighborhoods across the rest of town. South Natick keeps houses from the 1700s and 1800s along Eliot and Pleasant streets, and Walnut Hill, north of downtown, has Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes. Natick Center has Greek Revival side-hall houses, cottages, and workers' houses from the shoemaking era, and the areas north of Route 9, East Natick, and West Natick are mostly Capes, ranches, and Colonials built from the late 1940s on.

Condos and apartments cluster in West Natick along Route 135 near the train and at the Natick Mall. Two National Register districts cover the historic core: the Natick Center Historic District, listed in 1977, with brick blocks built after the 1874 fire, and the John Eliot Historic District in South Natick, listed in 1983, with the 1828 Eliot Church, the Bacon Free Library, and the homes of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Horatio Alger. Areas include Natick Center, South Natick, Walnut Hill, East Natick, and West Natick.

Living in Natick

Lake Cochituate, a former Boston water supply, is now used for swimming, boating, and fishing, and Cochituate State Park has its main entrance in Natick. Mass Audubon's Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in South Natick has trails through woods and marsh along the Charles, and the Natick Community Organic Farm, Hunnewell Town Forest, and Dug Pond add more places to get outside.

Downtown, the Natick Common hosts town events, The Center for Arts in Natick holds performances in the restored 1870s Central Fire Station, and the Morse Institute Library sits on East Central Street. The Natick Historical Society has a museum in the Bacon Free Library in South Natick. The Boston Marathon runs through downtown on Route 135 every Patriots' Day, and the Natick Mall anchors shopping along Route 9 in West Natick.

Questions About Natick

How do you get to Boston from Natick?

Natick Center and West Natick stations are on the MBTA Framingham/Worcester Line, with trains to Back Bay and South Station. By car, Route 9 and the Mass Pike head east toward Boston.

What kinds of homes are in Natick?

Natick has 18th- and 19th-century houses in South Natick, Victorian homes on Walnut Hill and near downtown, postwar Capes, ranches, and Colonials across much of town, and condos and apartments in West Natick and near the Natick Mall.

What is South Natick?

South Natick is the village on the Charles River where John Eliot founded Natick in 1651. It is the heart of the John Eliot Historic District, with the 1828 Eliot Church, the Bacon Free Library, and the Natick Historical Society museum.

To see homes for sale in Natick, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in Natick? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. Natick is part of our MetroWest guide.

Photos: Rames1651, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.