An article by Lowell Historical Society Curator Ryan W. Owen appears in the May/June 2016 issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine, which hits Greater Lowell newsstands soon. Lowell has lots to see, and do! Some of Lowell's best history-related points of attraction are featured in the article, A Peek into Lowell's Past. The list includes the downtown…Read more Merrimack Valley Magazine Feature! A Peek into Lowell’s Past
Lowell Massachusetts
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
Remembering Lowell’s Giant Store
Do you remember shopping at Lowell's Giant Store? For decades, the Giant Store promised 'giant savings' and helped form the core of Downtown Lowell's department store heyday that included other iconic shops like the Bon Marché, Pollards, and Cherry & Webb.
Lowell’s Riverside School: The Lowell Parents’ Strike – 1971
Things have to get fairly dire before your entire student body, well, 97% of your student body, boycotts your school due to "dangerous conditions". But, that's precisely what happened at Lowell's Riverside School on a Monday morning in late March, 1971. Of the school's 205 students in Grades K through 5, just six showed up…Read more Lowell’s Riverside School: The Lowell Parents’ Strike – 1971
Lost Stories and Found Mysteries: Old Group Photographs
If you've spent any time researching ancestors, or the history of your town, or even history in general, you've likely come across old group photographs. A workplace outing from long ago, an annual gathering of some institution or society, or maybe a family gathering. If you've stared into the faces of those who gathered for…Read more Lost Stories and Found Mysteries: Old Group Photographs
All in the Same Building: A Jail, Catholic School and later Condos
Many in Lowell recall the vast granite and brick buildings at Thorndike's intersection with Highland as the Keith Academy building. Before Keith Academy, though, the buildings housed the Lowell Jail. The Lowell Jail was the city's second, replacing the first which had been located at the corner of Dutton and Cushing streets, and dated from…Read more All in the Same Building: A Jail, Catholic School and later Condos
The Story of Lowell’s Rogers Hall
Rogers Street,today, is one of Lowell's main gateways into the city, providing access from Tewksbury, the city's southern neighbor. Known by many outside Lowell simply as Route 38, the road has a long past that is deeply connected to Lowell's history, and to the history of its Belvidere neighborhood especially. Rogers Street gets its name…Read more The Story of Lowell’s Rogers Hall
