NATICK, a town of Middlesex co., Massachusetts, on the Boston and Albany railroad, at the junction of the Saxonville branch, 17 m. W. by S. of Boston; pop. in 1870, 6,404. Charles river flows through the S. E. portion, and Cochituate lake, which supplies Boston with water, is partly within the town. Farming is carried on to some extent, but the principal business is the manufacture of boots and shoes, for which there are 15 or 20 establishments. There are also a hat factory and a base-ball manufactory. The town has a national bank, a savings bank, water and gas works, a fine public library and library building, a high school, a weekly newspaper, and eight churches. Natick was incorporated in 1781. The first Indian church in New England was erected here in 1660, on the site now occupied by the Unitarian church. John Eliot preached here, and in the cemetery is a monument to his memory.