How you know Lowell's Rialto Building is largely determined by when you grew up. To the oldest among us, the Victorian-era building that has dominated Towers Corner for 140 years is the Rialto Theatre - famous for first trips to the movies, to movies that have long since become classics.
City Life
How would you redesign Lowell’s Flag?
In November 2014, the inspiration came to Mark. He was listening to the 99% Invisible podcast, which was running a story on how the city of Portland, Oregon wanted to redesign its municipal flag. Proponents of the change complained that the city’s flag was, basically, a city seal on a bed sheet. Mark thought about that, and wondered what Lowell’s flag looked like.
From the Curator’s Desk: Old Timepieces – The Pocketwatch
At the Lowell Historical Society, we run across some interesting items in our collection of historical artifacts. Recently, we came across this pocketwatch, dated 1900, with its old-timey reference tag still attached.
Among the Artifacts: Merrimack Mills Employee Badges from Long Ago
At the Lowell Historical Society, we get to see and study some really interesting artifacts, like the wooden stake from the Central Bridge fire of 1882 or the Hi Hat Guy from Lowell's Hi-Hat Rollaway, or even the Box of Cinders from the Pollard's Department Store fire of 1926. A lot of these, we inherited from long…Read more Among the Artifacts: Merrimack Mills Employee Badges from Long Ago
From the Curator’s Desk: The Wooden Stake in our Collection
During these last few weeks, we've been busy at the Lowell Historical Society. As we near the end of our 2013-2014 year, we had our annual meeting last weekend at Lowell's Pollard Memorial Library where our society's Vice President Kim Zunino spoke about some of the fascinating finds she's encountered in the attic of Lowell's City…Read more From the Curator’s Desk: The Wooden Stake in our Collection
The Early History of Lowell’s Hi Hat Rollaway
In our last post, we revealed how we learned that the Hi Hat figurine within our collection was carved in the likeness of former Hi Hat owner, Mo Rochette, who was also famous as the 'old guy' behind the snack bar at the Hi Hat during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. But to get there,…Read more The Early History of Lowell’s Hi Hat Rollaway
Among the Artifacts: Remembering Lowell’s Hi Hat Rollaway
We call him Hi Hat Guy, at the Lowell Historical Society, after the name of roller skating rink that is lettered across his red tie. To the modern eye, Hi Hat Guy looks a little like Phil Dunphy, at least at first glance. He's the father figure played by Ty Burrell on ABC's Modern Family. Hi…Read more Among the Artifacts: Remembering Lowell’s Hi Hat Rollaway
