Natick Historical Society

05/31/2026

A view toward Lake Cochituate from Mr. H. Harwood’s residence, likely ca. 1900.

This historic photograph shows Natick and Lake Cochituate from a hillside near Mr. H. Harwood’s home, offering a sweeping view of rooftops, trees, and the lake. Notice how open the landscape once was — and how closely Natick’s neighborhoods were tied to the lake.

Mr. Harwood also has a fascinating connection to Natick’s baseball history. Learn more here:
https://www.natickhistoricalsociety.org/harwood-baseball-factory?rq=harwood

05/30/2026

🚓 Remember this building? 🚓

For decades, this building at East Central and Park streets was part of everyday life in downtown Natick. Opened in 1938 as the new police station, it also housed the District Court upstairs.

Three images from the NHS photograph collection show the former Natick Police Station and District Court building at East Central and Park streets, from a 1938 postcard view to later 20th-century color photographs.

What memories do you have of this municipal building?

Natick Police Department

05/25/2026

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 It was an honor to debut our Revolutionary War Traveling Memorial with the names of 249 Natick soldiers - 44 of whom were Indigenous and/or Black - at today's Memorial Day Ceremony. You can read all of their names in the Honor Roll and even find out where some of them lived on a 1750 Map of Natick. The Traveling Memorial will be at the Morse Instititue Library this week and will travel around Natick over the course of this year.

Coming soon: a new website where you can read biographies of some of these soldiers and learn more about Natick during the Revolutionary War.

Thank you to Natick's veterans - and all veterans - past and present.

Thanks to Mass Humanities, Mass Cultural Council, and the Frank and Sheila Magullion Foundation for supporting the Natick in the American Revolution project. And congrats to our Research Team for all their hard work! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, we pause to remember the Natick men and women who served, and especially those who never came home.

This photograph shows World War I-era servicemen and sailors gathered on Natick Common, posed before the Soldiers’ Monument. More than a century later, we continue to honor their service and sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all who gave their lives in defense of their country.

May we remember them not only today, but always.

05/15/2026

Who remembers the Carling Brewery? That big CARLING sign was once a familiar Massachusetts landmark.

05/09/2026

👍👍Thanks MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau for sharing Natick history!! 👍👍

During the American Revolution, South Natick was far more than a quiet farming village — it was an active community preparing for resistance long before the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord.

By 1775, around 85–90 families lived in Natick, and many played important roles in the political and military events leading up to the Revolution. Though Natick’s Minutemen arrived too late to fight at Lexington and Concord, more than 40 local officers and soldiers later fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill with the 5th Middlesex County Regiment.

One of the most important gathering places in town was the Peletiah Morse Tavern, built in 1748 on Eliot Street. The tavern served as a meeting place for local patriots, militia drills, and Revolutionary planning. Recent research even suggests that Paul Revere may have stayed there and trained with local soldiers. Today, the original tavern still stands on the Riverside Montessori School campus.

Natick was also deeply involved politically. Peletiah Morse served on the town’s Committee of Correspondence, helping organize communication and resistance efforts across Massachusetts. In a bold act of defiance, Natick voted to send its taxes directly to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress instead of the British governor and appointed 18 local Minutemen ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

Information sourced from Natick Historical Society

📷: Peletiah Morse Tavern (built 1748) on Eliot Street

05/08/2026

Thanks to support from the Natick Community Preservation Fund, this historic fence around what is now the Bacon Free Library building will be restored section by section this spring. Iterations of the fence date back to the 1840s. The land remains today, as it has long been, Nipmuc homelands and a sacred site for descendants of the Nipmucs, Massachusetts, and Praying Indians who lived here in the 1600s and early 1700s. The alternating cross and arrow motifs in the fence reference the history of the Praying Town of Natick established in 1651. The fence was last restored in 1970.

Congratulations Bacon Free Library on the restoration. We can't wait to see the fence refreshed!

05/06/2026

Thanks for sharing Natick history MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau!

05/03/2026

Did you know that one of Natick’s early diners was actually a trolley car? ☕🥞🍳🥓

In 1928, Ray and Cora McGowan opened a diner on North Main Street using a retired trolley from the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway—Car No. 41. As business grew, they built around it, creating what locals came to know as “Ray’s Barn.”

What started as a simple trolley diner eventually became a much larger structure and was later adapted for retail use.

On June 18, 1962, the original trolley car was removed, loaded onto a truck, and transported to the Seashore Trolley Museum.

Do you remember Ray’s Barn—or have family stories about it? We’d love to hear them.

05/01/2026

We had such a blast celebrating the Ben Hem Fifth Graders of Ms. Mehal's class in 1976 (Class of '83). Their Bicentennial Quilt is AMAZING! And what a treat to listen to the Wilson Middle School Pops Chorus sing a Hamilton Medley. Wow! Thanks to all who came together last night for this special event.

You can find the Bicentennial Quilt on display at the Morse Institute Library beginning next week and through October.