Natick, Massachusetts

Natick /ˈneɪtᵻk/ is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 45,796 at the 2010 census. Only 10 miles (16 km) west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area. The center of population of Massachusetts in 2000 was located in Natick.

Name

The name Natick comes from the language of the Massachusett Native American tribe and is commonly considered to mean place of hills. However, a more accurate translation may be place of (our) searching, named to celebrate John Eliot's successful search for a location for his Praying Indian settlement.

History

Natick was first settled in 1651 by John Eliot, a Puritan missionary born in Widford, Hertfordshire, England who received a commission and funds from England's Long Parliament to settle the Massachusett Indians on both sides of the Charles River, on land deeded from the settlement at Dedham. They were called Praying Indians – Natick was the first and for a long time served as the center of Eliot's network of praying towns. While the towns were largely self-governing under Indian leaders, the praying Indians were subject to rules governing conformity to English Puritan culture (in practice Natick, like the other praying towns, evidenced a combination of traditional and English culture and practices). Eliot and Praying Indian translators printed America's first written Bible in the Algonquian language.

Natick Mall

The Natick Mall, named the Natick Collection from February 2007 to July 2011, is an upscale shopping mall owned by General Growth Properties. It is located between Routes 9 and 30 in Natick, Massachusetts and is adjacent to Shoppers' World in Framingham, Massachusetts. The original facility opened in 1966, becoming the first enclosed mall in the Boston metropolitan area. It was demolished and replaced by a larger building in 1994, and was significantly expanded with the completion of an additional retail wing in 2007. With 1,860,000 sq ft (173,000 m²) of leasable area and 250 retailers, it is the largest mall in New England in terms of total number of stores. The Natick Mall is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Sears, and Macy's. In 2017, a Wegmans supermarket will open as the mall's sixth anchor store, replacing JCPenney which closed in 2015.

Along with Shopper's World, the Natick Mall helps form the heart of the regional shopping district known as the Golden Triangle. The 7 sq mi (18 km²) area is the second largest shopping district in Massachusetts outside of Downtown Crossing in the Financial District area of Boston.

Our Town

Our Town is a 1938 three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.

Throughout Wilder uses metatheatrical devices setting the play in the actual theatre where it is being performed. The main character is the stage manager of the theatre who directly addresses the audience, brings in guests lecturers, fields questions from the audience, and fills in playing some of the roles. The play is performed without a set and the actors mime their actions without the use of props.

Our Town was first performed at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey in 1938. It later went on to success on Broadway and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It remains popular today and revivals are frequent.

Synopsis

Act I: Daily Life

The Stage Manager introduces the audience to the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, and the people living there as a morning begins in the year 1901. Professor Willard speaks to the audience about the history of the town. Joe Crowell delivers the paper to Doc Gibbs, Howie Newsome delivers the milk, and the Webb and Gibbs households send their children (Emily and George, respectively) off to school on this beautifully simple morning.