Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Natick, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Natick town. It lies in ZIP code area 01760. It stands on Coolidge Hill. The Survey maps it on the Natick quadrangle.

Natick within Middlesex County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Natick, surveyed 1989

Topographic sheet of Natick, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

21,769 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Natick Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

HE neighbor towns of Natick are, on the east Neediiam and Diiver in Norfolk County, Sher- Imrii to the south, Franiingham west, and Wayland north. Lake Cochituate, the Long Pond of our fathers, but resuming its Indian name when it became Boston's water-supply, is a noteworthy natural feature. Charles River crooks through South Natick; and on the edge of Dover Pcgan Hill rises four hundred feet. Natick has three villages : the compact, populous Centre, on the Boston and Albany Railroad, seventeen miles from the city ; Felchville, a mile north ; and two miles southeast tlie original settlement, South Natick. Population, by the census of 1875, 7,419.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

This town, one of the few in Massachusetts with an Indian name, preserves thus the fact of its aboriginal origin; for when John Eliot's missionary labors at Nonantum bore fruit, he wished to gather these converts into a community remoter from the whites. Riding in quest of a good location, and disappointed in one place examined, the record states that he prayed behind a great rock for guidance in this matter. Soon after a friendly Indian suggested another site, of which Eliot thus writes : " The Lord did discover that there it was his pleasure we should begin this work. When grasse was fit to cut, I sent some Indians to mow, and other to make hay, because wc must oft ride thither in the Autumn, and in the spring before any grasse is come, and there is provision for our horses, their work was performed well, as I found whiii I went u|) to llicm with my man to order it."

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

History is silent as to the exact time of removal from Nonantum; but on coming to Natick they laid out three parallel streets, two on the north, and one on the south side of the water, and divided the land into fifty lots more or less. That would show a population of two hundred probably. A few houses were built, but Gookin says they liked wigwams better as being warmer and more portable. Then for the general good a fort was constructed, ditched, banked, and stockaded; round and capacious.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Natick Town - it names this place 104 more 104 times.

Fires near this place

125 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Natick between 1995 and 2020, burning about 59 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	42
Debris and open burning	39
Recreation and ceremony	15
Power generation/transmission/distribution	7
Arson/incendiarism	7
Smoking	4
Natural	3
Misuse of fire by a minor	3
Railroad operations and maintenance	3
Fireworks	1
Equipment and vehicle use	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
4 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
26 September 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 September 2019	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
22 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,454 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,454 specimens collected within 10 miles of Natick between 1898 and 1975: 1,047 Animalia, 202 Plantae, 197 Fungi, 4 Chromista, 4 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. B. Seymour & M. D. Feigley, A. E. Feldman and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822	1900	not recorded	Wayland
Actaea pachypoda Elliott	1898	Ernest Charles Smith
Antennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer	1898	Williams, E.F.
Antennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins	1898	not recorded
Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.	1898	not recorded
Aquilegia canadensis L.	1898	M. I. Gunn	Natick
Agaricus brunnescens Peck	1900	Morris, G. E.	Waltham
Agonopterix atrodorsella Clemens, 1863	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd.	1900	J. Murdoch, Jr.	West Roxbury
Apantesis Walker, 1855	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Apatelodes torrefacta J.E.Smith, 1797	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Araiospora pulchra Thaxt.	1900	Thaxter, Roland	Stony Brook, Mass. [Massachusetts]

All 1,454 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Natick: 7 past producers, 1 plant, 1 producer, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Peat. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Hawkridge Bros--Ashland, Ma.	Iron	Plant
Panlini Loam Co	Peat	Past Producer	Peat
Arthur Scofield Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Framington Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hi-Way Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
New England Sand & Grv Co. Pit & Pl	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Sand & Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Stonebridge Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Town of Natick	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Town of Wayland	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

25 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Natick in 25 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flood, 2 lightning. The reports record 4 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	4 hurt, $15,000	no account filed
July 2001	Lightning	Natick	$200,000	no account filed
August 2015	Flood	Natick	$50,000	Route 9 near the pumping station was flooded. The intersection of Speen and Timer Streets was closed due to flooding. A small car was stuck in the flood waters. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority train tracks were flooded near downtown Natick. The first floor of Coolidge Gardens on Cottage Street was flooded. Four cars were stuck in flood waters at the intersection of Route 9 and Wethersfield Road. The area near the Natick Mall was flooded with six to twelve inches of water.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$50,000	Numerous trees, branches, and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds, including on West Central and Speen Streets and Nottingham Drive.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$25,000	Multiple trees and wires on Robin Hood Road and Ridge Avenue were downed by thunderstorm winds. One of these trees was downed onto a house.
February 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$20,000	Route 9 was closed in both directions near the Natick Mall due to power lines downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2005	Flash Flood	Natick	$20,000	no account filed
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$15,000	Multiple trees were downed by thunderstorm winds in the west end of the city.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$15,000	Trees and wires on Oak Street, Kinsman Place, and Union Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2012	Lightning	Natick	$15,000	A house on Woodland Street was struck by lightning and caught on fire.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$10,000	no account filed
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	Wires on Edge Hill Road were downed onto cars by thunderstorm winds.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	A tree and wires were downed onto a house on Purington Avenue.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	A tree was downed onto wires on Sherwood Road.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	Wires on Possum Hollow Lane were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	A tree on Union Street near Kindred Hospital was downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	$5,000	A large branch on Forest Street and a tree on Malden Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	South Natick	$500	In Natick, a tree was down on Glen Street.
October 2017	Flood	Natick	-	Flooding in Natick on Speen Street near West Central Street.
August 2015	Hail	Natick	-	Penny to nickel size hail fell in Natick.
September 2015	Flood	Natick	-	The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority train tracks were flooded.
May 2011	Hail	Natick	-	Penny size hail covered the ground.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Natick	-	Several trees down resulting in home damage north of route 135.
July 2012	Hail	Natick	-	no account filed
October 1998	Heavy Rain	Natick	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Middlesex County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Felchville	1.1 miles	46
North Natick	1.3 miles	46
West Natick	1.6 miles	40
Lake Forest Park	1.7 miles	46
Morseville	1.8 miles	46
South Natick	1.9 miles	46
East Natick	2.0 miles	46
Lokerville	2.5 miles	40

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611963. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.