Lowell

Lowell, MA was an overnight on the way to Greenville. It is 26 miles northeast of Boston. The area was settled by the English in third quarter of the 18th century, who purchased the land from the Wamesit and Pawtucket Indians. The local geography, particularly the confluence of the Merrimack and Concord rivers and Pawtucket Falls, were significant factors in the Lowell becoming an industrial powerhouse across the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. A series of canals with locks, dams and aqueducts, the first dug in the late 1700s, made possible controlled navigation on the Merrimack and between it and other rivers (e.g., Mystic River). It also harnessed the power of the water drop in the Merrimack for mechanized manufacturing via hydro-power (water wheels). By mid-18th century, the Merrimack was dammed at the top of Pawtucket Falls to the point that the river’s entire flow under normal conditions could be diverted into the canal system, creating a powerful 32 foot head of water.

Lowell was an early model of “progress,” not only industrially, but also with the development of higher education institutions, a hospital, and culturally. However, the 1930s depression stuck a blow from which manufacturing in Lowell, particularly textile production, never recovered. Lowell today is very much diversified, and the old industrial area is now the Lowell National Historic Park with a demonstration projects and museums that celebrate Lowell's role in the industrial revolution.

The photos of Pawtucket Falls are from the internet, one from the late 1800s and a recent one. (An adjacent bridge makes it difficult to photograph the dam/falls. That notwithstanding, so much water is diverted into the canals by the dam, the falls were a dribble when we were there.) Also shown is a photo of an old mill showing exhaust water portals in the factor’s wheel house. The other end of the same factory was converter to apartments. Next to the University of Massachusetts Lowell Conference Center Hotel is a working model (half-size?) of a lock and dam, taken at dusk, that is fed by one of the early canals. My favorite is a photo of the old Paradise Dinner that served countless numbers of workers over it life. There is similar landmark dinner, which has been in operation since 1939, in Wellsboro, PA.