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| Henry Wilson's Shoe Shop |
In any town as full of history as Natick, there are bound to
be a number of historic sites to see and visit. One of our more
well-known historic landmarks is Henry Wilson’s shoe shop. Henry Wilson, the
eighteenth Vice President of the United States, lived most of his life in Natick
and earned his initial success here as a shoe maker. The shoe industry was hugely
important to Natick’s economy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of the shoes produced in Natick were
brogans, a kind of heavy leather work shoe, often used for slaves in the
American South. Mills and factories grew
exponentially in Natick, especially after the Boston/Albany Railroad came to
town in 1834. For a period in the 1880s, Natick was one of the biggest producers of leather
shoes in Massachusetts.
The growth of
Natick’s industry did not go unnoticed outside the community. Waves of new
immigrants moved into the Natick area, bringing diversity to the town. News of
the opportunities afforded to young men brought in new Natickites from all over
New England. One such enterprising young man was Jeremiah Colbath, who at the
age of twenty-one walked just over a hundred miles from his home in Farmington, New Hampshire to seek his fortune making shoes in Natick. This humble Natick
cobbler became a lot more well-known after he changed his name to Henry
Wilson.
Henry Wilson entered the shoe business in the same way many
young men did. He began operating his own business making shoes out of a small
“ten-footer.” Ten-footers were small outbuildings used as a work spaces for a variety
of purposes. They were previously relatively common throughout New England. It was a small shoe shop like this one where
Wilson learned to make leather shoes and where he paid rapt
attention to his colleagues’ political discourse. Later in his life Henry Wilson
would say that these early political debates were among the things that inspired him to become
interested in politics and social reform.
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| Postcard Depicting the Wilson's Shoe Shop |
Wilson’s business and wealth grew over time. He expanded
beyond his small shoe shop and eventually opened his own shoe business.
This enterprise brought Wilson a
comfortable level of prosperity which allowed him to formally enter politics. While the larger Wilson factory building no longer exists, Henry Wilson’s original ten-footer still
does! This building has been restored a number of times and can still be visited in Natick Center on Central
Street. It has been a major point of interest in Natick since Wilson’s Vice
Presidency. The interior of the building is not often open to the public, but
it can be viewed from the outside year-round.
Maintenance and care of the Henry Wilson Shoe shop and the park where it
is located is the responsibility the town of Natick.
To learn more about Henry Wilson’s Shoe shop and a number of
other local places of interest be sure to check out the newest publication from
Natick Historical Society, Have You Ever
Wondered...? Natick Explained. This book explores the stories of notable
people and places from around Natick. Full of vibrant photographs and wonderful
pieces of history, Have You Ever Wondered...? is available now at select businesses
around Natick, as online at the Historical Society’s website, and of course here in the Museum.
