NATICK

town (township), Middlesex county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Boston. The first recorded settlement there was made in 1650, when the missionary John Eliot was granted the land for use as a plantation for his praying Indians. In 1663 Eliot published an Algonquian-language translation of the Bible, a copy of which the town historical society possesses. After the Native Americans were crowded out by white settlers, Natick became a farming community. The local economy is now based on services (including health care, utilities, and research and development) and trade, and there is substantial industrial development (medical instruments, chemicals, and communications systems). The U.S. Army has maintained research facilities in Natick since the 1950s; the Soldier Systems Center was activated there in 1994. Much of Cochituate State Park, with its large lake, lies within Natick's borders. Inc. 1781. Area 16 square miles (41 square km). Pop. (1990) 30,510; (1996 est.) 31,310.