Farewell to the South Natick Dam: Honoring the Place That Shaped My Years
For almost 40 years, I’ve called South Natick home. While it’s never been the place where I’ve felt deeply rooted, it’s where I raised my children, built our businesses, and lived a full chapter of life.
Now, as I begin to explore the rich history that surrounds us, there’s no better place to start than the South Natick Dam.
This dam has been a quiet, constant landmark for as long as we’ve lived here. We’ve taken countless photos of its rushing waters, walked our dogs to its banks, launched our canoe from its edge, and watched the seasons shift through the branches of the willows Emmy so beautifully captured with her lens.
But soon, that view will be only a memory.
Our town has voted to remove the dam—a decision made for reasons I do not fully agree with. And yet, I know change is coming. This familiar place, where water has flowed and families have gathered, will one day be gone.
So I begin this journey, of exploring the history of South Natick, with the dam as my starting point. As we look forward to what this landscape will become, I want to honor what it has been. Because even in a place where I never quite felt rooted, the memories made along this river have shaped a life I’ll always cherish.
Read More From Nancy
The John Eliot Monument
Standing quietly on a hill overlooking South Natick is this monument honoring John Eliot, the Puritan missionary often known as the “Apostle to the Indians.” Eliot devoted much of his life to working with the Native peoples of Massachusetts and is remembered for his efforts to share Christianity and establish communities known as “Praying Indian” towns. Arriving in […]
Daniel Takawampit
Daniel Takawampbit, an Algonquian leader, stands as one of the most extraordinary and overlooked figures in New England’s Colonial past. He was the first Natick American ordained as a Puritan minister, the student and successor of John Eliot, and a spiritual guide to the Praying Indian community of Natick during some of the most challenging […]
Odd Fellow Building – 1887
In downtown Natick, there is this brick building marked “Odd Fellow Building – 1887”. This building was purposely built as the home of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, one of the most influential fraternal organizations in 19th century America. Completed in 1887, the building was designed from the outset to serve two […]
