- Lowell National Historical Park
Infobox Protected area
name = Lowell National Historical Park
iucn_category =
caption =
locator_x = 264
locator_y = 50
location =Lowell, Massachusetts ,USA
nearest_city =Lowell, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 38
lat_seconds = 48
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 71
long_minutes = 18
long_seconds = 37
long_direction = W
area = 141 acres (0.57 km²)
established =June 5 ,1978
visitation_num = 722,458
visitation_year = 2005
governing_body =National Park Service Lowell National Historical Park is a
National Historical Park of theUnited States located inLowell, Massachusetts . Established in 1978, it is operated by theNational Park Service and comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of Lowell related to the era oftextile manufacturing in the city during theIndustrial Revolution . It is the oldest urban national park in the nation.History
:"See the
History of Lowell, Massachusetts article for a detailed history of the city"First settled by Europeans in the 17th century, East Chelmsford (later re-named Lowell in honor of the founders' deceased business partner) became an important manufacturing center along theMerrimack River in the early 1820s. It was seen as an attractive site for the construction of a planned industrial city, with theMiddlesex Canal (completed in 1803) linking the Merrimack to theCharles River , which flows through Boston, and with the powerful 32' Pawtucket Falls. The already existentPawtucket Canal , designed for transportation around thePawtucket Falls on the Merrimack, became the feeder canal for a 5.6 mile long system of power canals based around the falls. Unlike many other mill towns, however, Lowell's manufacturing facitilities were built based on a "planned community" design. Specifically Lowell was planned as reaction to the mill communities in Great Britain, which were perceived as cramped and inhumane. Initially the factories of Lowell were built with ample green space and accompanying clean dormitories, in a style that anticipated such later architectural trends as theCity Beautiful movement in the 1890s. Lowell attracted both immigrants from abroad and migrants from withinNew England andQuebec (including a large proportion of young women) who lived in the dormitories and worked in the mills.The mill industry in Lowell went into a steep decline in the middle 20th century and by the 1960s, the city's manufacturing district was largely in ruins. Urban renewal plans called for the paving over of the canals. The idea of creating a historic district in Lowell was largely the idea of local teacher Patrick J. Mogan, who insisted that any revitalization of the city should be based on its industrial and ethnic heritage. Mogan believed that this was the soul of the city—and not incidentally, a key to its economic salvation. As a result, group of community organizations began cooperating on a comprehensive plan to renovate the historic heart of the city. In 1978, the
United States Congress established Lowell National Historical Park and the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission. The legislation to create the park was sponsored byUnited States Senator and Lowell nativePaul Tsongas . The restoration gathered momentum in the 1980s, including the renovation of the canals and former mill facilities into museums, as well as the construction of a waterfront walkway.Description
The park includes a Visitor Center, as well as many restored and unrestored sites from the 19th century. The Visitor Center provides a free self-guided tour of the history of Lowell, including display exhibits such as the
patent model of aloom by local inventor S. Thomas.A footpath along the
Merrimack Canal from the Visitor's Center is lined with plaques describing the importance of various existing and former sites along the canal. TheBoott Mills along the Merrimack river, on the Eastern Canal, is the most fully restored manufacturing site in the district, and one of the oldest. The Boott Mill provides a walk-through museum with living recreations of the textile manufacturing process in the 19th century. The walking tour includes a detour to a memorial to local authorJack Kerouac , who described the mid-20th century declined state of Lowell in several of his books. A walkway along the river leads to several additional unrestored mill sites, providing views of restored and unrestored canal raceways once used by the mills. Additionally, the park includes thePatrick J Mogan Cultural Center , which focuses on the lives of Lowell's many generations of immigrants. Other exhibits include a workingstreetcar line, canal boat tours exploring some of the city's gatehouses and locks, and the River Transformed / Suffolk Mill Turbine Exhibit, which shows how water power, namely theFrancis Turbine , was once used to run Lowell's textile factories.ee also
*
Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures External links
* [http://www.nps.gov/lowe Lowell National Historical Park website]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/21boott/21boott.htm "Building America's Industrial Revolution: The Boott Cotton Mills of Lowell, Massachusetts," a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.