Natick — The “Home of Champions”
For more than 130 years, folks in Natick have enjoyed the town’s celebrity nickname “Home of Champions”, and the story behind the nickname comes straight from the late 19th century.
Natick firefighters, photograph source unknown
In September 1891, Natick firefighters and their friends in nearby towns got together for neighborly social gatherings, and they had some remarkable enthusiasm for competitions requiring strength and skill. Firefighters throughout New England at that time had exciting traditional contests of strength and skill to determine who was best at dragging fire wagons on a measured course, hooking up water hoses, raising ladders, and manhandling the bulky hoses up to a designated height.
The competitive event took place in Worcester, where hearty crews from Natick, Westborough, Leominster, and Spencer squared off for what they called “The World’s Hook and Ladder Championship.” The rules were simple, based on firefighting skills that were important in their time: team members had to run 220 yards, get their heavy ladder wagon rolling for the 220-yard return trip, and then use the ladders to put a man at the top of a 28-foot platform. You can picture the crowd going crazy for this magnificent spectacle.
Natick’s Union Ladder Company, 1891.
The Natick firefighters enlisted all four of Natick’s most renowned sprinters and, with their help, carried the day with a time of 58 seconds. This victory inspired Natick’s enduring nickname: “Home of Champions.” Natick’s Irish community boasted four runners who were well known for their athletic feats and who had celebrity careers in sports ahead of them: Keith Fitzpatrick, “Piper” and “Pooch” Donovan (brothers), and “Charlie” Hoey. Fitzpatrick became a college track coach at Yale, Michigan, and Princeton. Piper Donovan was the 1895 world champion in the 100-yard dash and became a revered trainer at Princeton. Pooch Donovan made his mark as a football, baseball, and track coach at Harvard. Hoey was “The World Champion Club Swinger and Juggler” at Madison Square Garden, and he became a renowned performer all across America and in Europe.
The following year, in 1892, two crews from Natick and Attleboro staged the second World’s Hook and Ladder Championship, and Natick’s strong and speedy squad took top honors again with a new record time of 56 seconds.