Natick: The First Praying Indian Town
In 1651, missionary Rev. John Eliot established Natick as the first of the “Praying Indian” towns in Massachusetts. He named the town after the Natick American word Natick, translated as a place of hills or a place of searching. He worked closely with local Massachusett and Nipmic people, teaching them Christianity in their native tongue and translating the Bible into Algonquian, launching America’s first Bible printed in an Indigenous language
On this site, in South Natick, the first Indian meetinghouse was built. It served not only as a church but also as a public town meeting house for the Indigenous community living here
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Natick Indian Burial Ground
Each town has something special to share and a story that it holds close. Today, I want to share one of Natick’s most sacred and historic sites: The Natick Praying Indian Burial Ground. Set quietly in the center of town, this grassy enclosure carries a story that predates the town itself. It is one of the […]
First Congregational Church in Natick
The church stands prominently in downtown Natick. This is the seventh meeting house of the Natick’s First Church, a congregation established in 1651 by John Eliot. Reverend Eliot was a Puritan missionary known as the “Apostle to the Indians” Worship in those earliest years was conducted largely in the Algonquian language, and the meetinghouse stood at the center […]
The Harwood Baseball Factory
In 1858, Harrison Harwood, a Natick resident and local businessman, built what would become one of the most historically significant small factories in American sports: The Harwood Baseball Factory. This factory was more than a local industry, but the birthplace of professional baseball. Harwood’s factory was the first in the US devoted entirely to the manufacture of […]
