Lowell National Historical Park

Lowell National Historical Park
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
The Boott Cotton Mill & Museum

Location	Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Nearest city	Lowell, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°38′48″N 71°18′37″W / 42.64667°N 71.31028°W / 42.64667; -71.31028Coordinates: 42°38′48″N 71°18′37″W / 42.64667°N 71.31028°W / 42.64667; -71.31028
Area	141 acres (0.57 km²)
Established	June 5, 1978
Visitors	520,452 (in 2011)^[1]
Governing body	National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/lowe/

Official Map of the Lowell National Historical Park

Lowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of Lowell related to the era of textile manufacturing in the city during the Industrial Revolution. In 2019, the park is scheduled to be included as Massachusetts' representative in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.^[2]

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 renamed Lowell in honor of the founders' deceased business partner) became an important manufacturing center along the Merrimack River in the early 1820s. It was seen as an attractive site for the construction of a planned industrial city, with the Middlesex Canal (completed in 1803) linking the Merrimack to the Charles River, which flows through Boston, and with the powerful 32' Pawtucket Falls. The already existent Pawtucket Canal, designed for transportation around the Pawtucket 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 facilities 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 the City Beautiful movement in the 1890s. Lowell attracted both immigrants from abroad and migrants from within New England and Quebec (including a large proportion of young women) who lived in the dormitories and worked in the mills.

The textile industry in New England experienced a sharp decline after World War II and by the 1960s, many of the Lowell's textile mill buildings were abandoned. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, several important forces came together from which emerged the Lowell National Historical Park. Congressman F. Bradford Morse assisted in the city's selection for "Model Cities" status; Brendan Fleming, UMass Lowell (UML) Math Department faculty member, after his election to the Lowell City Council proposed the first Historic District “The Mill and Canal District” which was approved in 1972; Gordon Marker, Executive Director of Model Cities and an urban planner, was instrumental in designing the concept for an Urban Park based on Historic Preservation and Economic Revitalization; Patrick Mogan, Education Administrator and later Superintendent of Schools, was primarily interested in Lowell's children and strongly advocated the preservation and sharing of their cultural experiences; and the Lowell Historical Society which opened the Lowell Museum in 1976. Together these circles of interest became a collaborating force led by United States Senator and Lowell native Paul Tsongas to enact legislation for a national park. In 1978, the United States Congress established the Lowell National Historical Park, the Lowell Historic Preservation District, and the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission.

Park Information

Park Superintendents

Sandy Walter	1982–1995

Michael Creasey	2005–2012
Celeste Bernardo	2012–present

Among the notable features of the park are:

Boott Cotton Mill and Museum
The Francis Gate
Pawtucket Dam and Gatehouse
Suffolk Mill Turbine and Powerhouse
Kirk Street Agents House
Mill Girls and Immigrants Boardinghouse
The Lowell Canal System
Swamp Locks, Lower Locks, Guard Locks
Merrimack River and Northern Canal Walkway

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 a loom by local inventor S. Thomas.

A footpath along the Merrimack Canal from the visitor center is lined with plaques describing the importance of various existing and former sites along the canal. The Boott 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 author Jack 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 the Patrick J Mogan Cultural Center, which focuses on the lives of Lowell's many generations of immigrants. Other exhibits include a working streetcar line,^[3]^[4] 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, the Francis Turbine, ran Lowell's textile factories.

Photo gallery

U.S. President Jimmy Carter (center) with Ted Kennedy (left) and Paul Tsongas signs the creation of Lowell National Historical Park, 1978
Authentic Looms in the Boott Cotton Mill and Museum
The Boott Cotton Mill and Museum and Park Trolley
The Park offers boat tours of the historic Lowell Canal System
The River Transformed Exhibit at the Wannalancit Mill
Park Headquarters, Paige Street
Play media

From turbine to line shaft at Suffolk Mills, part of the River Transformed Exhibit
Play media

From line shaft to power looms at Boott Mills

References

↑ "National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
↑ "LOWELL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK QUARTER". US Quarters. January 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
↑ "APTA Streetcar and Heritage Trolley Site - Lowell, Massachusetts". American Public Transportation Association and the Seashore Trolley Museum. February 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
↑ "U.S. Streetcar Systems- Massachusetts Lowell". U.S. Streetcar Systems Website. RPR Inc. November 23, 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-23.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Lowell National Historical Park.

National Historical Parks of the United States

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Adams Appomattox Court House Blackstone River Valley Boston Cane River Creole Cedar Creek and Belle Grove Chaco Culture Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Colonial Cumberland Gap Dayton Aviation Heritage First State George Rogers Clark Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Harpers Ferry Hopewell Culture Independence Jean Lafitte Kalaupapa Kaloko-Honokōhau Keweenaw Klondike Gold Rush Lewis and Clark Lowell Lyndon B. Johnson Manhattan Project Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Minute Man Morristown Natchez New Bedford Whaling New Orleans Jazz Nez Perce Palo Alto Battlefield Paterson Great Falls Pecos Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front Salt River Bay San Antonio Missions San Francisco Maritime San Juan Island Saratoga Sitka Thomas Edison Tumacácori Valley Forge War in the Pacific Women's Rights

Full Alphabetical List

Textile museums

North America	Bates Mill Cooper-Hewitt Costume Museum of Canada Cotton Museum International Quilt Study Center Lowell National Historical Park Mission Mill Museum Museum of Work and Culture Museum L-A Museum of the American Quilter's Society San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Shelburne Museum Slater Mill Textile Museum, Washington D.C. Textile Museum of Canada Windham Textile and History Museum

Central America	Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing

Europe	Bielsko-Biała Museum Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź Centre National du Costume de Scene Costume Museum (Kastoria) Devonshire Collection of Period Costume Ethnographic Museum (Belgrade) Fashion and Textile Museum Fashion Museum, Bath Helmshore Mills Textile Museum Killerton Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs de Lyon Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture Museum of the History of the Greek Costume Museum of the Romanian Peasant National Museum of Costume National Museum of Costume and Fashion Nottingham Industrial Museum Quarry Bank Mill Queen Street Textile Museum Victoria and Albert Museum Wigan Pier

Asia	Bhutan Textile Museum Calico Museum of Textiles Chojun Textile & Quilt Art Museum Korea Museum of Modern Costume Kurdish Textile Museum Lok Virsa Museum Textile Museum (Jakarta) Yokohama Silk Museum

Related topics	Design museum Shoe museum

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling

National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service Units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island

Other	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State

State Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Great Brook Farm Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck

Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain

Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests	Barnstable Beartown Berkley Brimfield Chester-Blandford DAR Douglas Erving F. Gilbert Hills Federated Women's Club Franklin Freetown-Fall River Georgetown-Rowley Gilbert A. Bliss Granville Harold Parker Kenneth Dubuque Memorial Leominster Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro Manuel F. Correllus Mohawk Trail Monroe Mount Grace Mount Washington Myles Standish October Mountain Otter River Pittsfield Sandisfield Savoy Mountain Shawme-Crowell Spencer Tolland Upton Wendell Willard Brook Willowdale Windsor

Wildlife Management Areas	Agawam Lake Agawam Mill Pond Ashby Ashfield Hawley Attitash Ayer Game Farm Baddacook Pond Bakers Pond Bay Circuit Trail Bearse Pond Becket Bennett Birch Hill Black Brook Blackstone / West River Bolton Flats Boxboro Station Brayton Point Salt Marsh Breakneck Brook Brewer Brook Bullock Ledge Burrage Pond Canoe River Catamount Chalet Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh Childs River Chockalog Swamp Church Homestead Clapps Pond Clinton Bluff Concord River Connecticut River Cook Pond Copicut Coy Hill Crane Pond Cummington Cusky Pond Dartmoor Farm Darwin Scott Memorial Day Mountain Deerfield River Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal Dolomite Ledges Dunstable Brook E. Kent Swift Eagle Island East Mountain Eastham Salt Marsh Elbow Meadow English Salt Marsh Eugene D. Moran Facing Rock Fairfield Brook Farmington River Fish Brook Fisherville Pond Fisk Forestdale Lot Fisk Meadows Five Mile River Flagg Swamp Flint Pond Four Chimneys Fox Den Fox Island Salt Marsh Frances A. Crane Freetown Swamp George L. Darey Housatonic Valley Glen Echo Lake Gosnold Grassy Pond (Dennis) Grassy Pond (Plymouth) Green River (Franklin County) Green River (Berkshire County) Greenfield River Halfway Pond Hamilton Hancock Harlow / Cooks Pond Haskell Swamp Hauk Swamp Hawksnest State Park Hawley Head Of The Plains Herman Covey High Ridge Hinsdale Flats Hiram H. Fox Hockomock Swamp Hog Pond Lot Honey Pot Hoosatonic River Hoosic River Hop Brook Housatonic River Hubbard Brook Hunting Hills Hyannis Ponds Ipswich River John J. Kelly Joint Base Cape Cod Jug End Fen Jug End Kampoosa Fen Katama Plains Knops Pond Konkapot River Lackey Pond Lake Lorraine Lake Rohunta Lake Snipatuit Lake Warner Lanesboro Lawrence Brook Lawrence Pond Lot Leadmine Leyden Lilly Pond Little Alum Pond Long Sought For Pond Maple Hill Maple Springs Martha Deering Martin H. Burns Mascuppic Lake Mashpee Pine Barrens Mashpee Pond Lot Mashpee River Mckinstry Brook Meetinghouse Swamp Merrill Pond Miacomet Heath Mill River Millers River Mine Brook Montague Plains Montague Moose Brook Moose Brook Moose Hill Mossy Pond Mount Watatic Reservation Mt. Esther Mt. Toby Highlands Mt. Toby Mt. Tom Muddy Brook Muddy Pond Mulpus Brook Nashua River Natty Brook Nemasket River Nissitissit River Noquochoke Nordeen Marsh North Brookfield North Shore Salt Marsh Northboro Oakham Olivers Pond Orange Otis Packard Pond Palmer Pantry Brook Pauchaug Brook Peru Peterson Swamp Phillipston Podunk Marsh Poland Brook Popple Camp Popponesset Beach Poutwater Pond Powell Brook Prince River Provincetown Route 6 Corridor Purchade Brook Quaboag Quacumquasit Quag Pond Bog Quashnet River Quashnet Woods State Reservation Quinapoxet River Quinsigamond Marsh Quisset Raccoon Hill Rainbow Beach Red Brook Richardson Robbins Pond Rochester Rocky Gutter Rowe Salisbury Salt Marsh Salisbury Salt Marsh Sandwich Game Farm Sandy Pond Satan's Kingdom Savage Hill Savoy Sawmill River Scorton Creek Coastal SE Mass Bioreserve Sevenmile River Shattuck Brook Sheperds Island Shubael Pond Sibley Brook Sly Pond South Barrier Beach South Meadow Pond South Shore Salt Marsh South Triangle Pond Southampton Southwick Spectacle Pond Springhill Lot Sputtermill Pond Squannacook River Stafford Hill Sudbury River Sunderland Islands Taconic Mountain Taunton River Taunton River Tekoa Mountain Thad Ellis Thayer Pond Three Mile Pond Townsend Townsend Hill Trapfall Brook Triangle Pond Tully Brook Tully Mountain Tully River Wakeby Pond Wales Walnut Hill Ware River Warwick Wendell West Meadows Westboro Westfield River Westfield Weymouth Back River Whately Great Swamp Whately Ponds Whately Wilbraham Game Farm William Forward Williams River Williamsburg Winimusset Wolf Swamp

Wildlife Sanctuaries	Billingsgate Island Carr Island E. Howe Forbush Egg Rock Grace A. Robson J.C. Phillips Knight Penikese Island Ram Island (Salisbury) Ram Island (Mattapoisett) Susan B. Minns Tarpaulin Cove Watatic Mountain

Private

The Nature Conservancy	Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Preserve Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations	Agassiz Rock Appleton Farms Appleton Farms Grass Rides Ashintully Gardens Bartholomew's Cobble Bear's Den Bear Swamp Colonel John Ashley House Francis William Bird Park Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate Bridge Island Meadows Brooks Woodland William Cullen Bryant Homestead Cape Poge Cedariver Castle Hill Chapel Brook Charles River Peninsula Chase Woodlands Chesterfield Gorge Coolidge Copicut Woods Cormier Woods Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge Crane Beach Crane Wildlife Refuge Crowninshield Island Dexter Drumlin Dinosaur Footprints Doane's Falls Doyle Dry Hill East Over Elliott Laurel Field Farm Fork Factory Brook Glendale Falls Goose Pond Greenwood Farm Halibut Point Hamlin Holmes Governor Hutchinson's Field Jacobs Hill Little Tom Mountain Long Hill Long Point Lowell Holly Lyman Reserve Malcolm Mashpee River McLennan Medfield Meadow Lots Medfield Rhododendrons Menemsha Hills Misery Islands Mission House Monument Mountain Moose Hill Farm Mount Ann Park Mountain Meadow Mytoi Naumkeag Noanet Woodlands Noon Hill Norris North Common Meadow Norton Point Beach Notchview Old Manse Old Town Hill Peaked Mountain Pegan Hill Peters Petticoat Hill Pierce Pine and Hemlock Knoll Powisset Farm Questing Quinebaug Woods Ravenswood Park Redemption Rock Rock House Rocky Narrows Rocky Woods Royalston Falls Shattuck Signal Hill Slocum's River Stavros Stevens-Coolidge Swift River Tantiusques Tully Lake Campground Two Mile Farm Tyringham Cobble Ward Wasque Weir Hill Weir River Farm Westport Town Farm Whitney and Thayer Woods World's End

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries	Arcadia Broad Meadow Brook Broadmoor Daniel Webster Drumlin Farm High Ledges Ipswich River Moose Hill North River Pleasant Valley Stony Brook Wachussett Meadow Wellfleet Bay

Other	Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (Massachusetts)

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Topics

Map of the United States with Massachusetts highlighted

Lists by county

Lists by city

Barnstable County	Barnstable

Bristol County	Fall River New Bedford Taunton

Essex County	Andover Gloucester Ipswich Lawrence Lynn Methuen Salem

Hampden County	Springfield

Middlesex County	Arlington Cambridge Concord Framingham Lexington Lowell Marlborough Medford Newton Reading Sherborn Somerville Stoneham Wakefield Waltham Weston Winchester

Norfolk County	Brookline Milton Quincy

Suffolk County	Boston northern southern

Worcester County	Southbridge Uxbridge Worcester eastern northwestern southwestern

Other lists

Category
NRHP portal
Massachusetts portal

National Park Travelers Club Conventions

2003: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
2004: Rocky Mountain National Park
2005: Mammoth Cave National Park
2006: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
2007: Olympic National Park
2008: Lowell National Historical Park
2009: Sequoia National Park
2010: El Malpais National Monument
2011: National Mall
2012: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
2013: Shiloh National Military Park
2014: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
2015: Chamizal National Memorial
2016 (planned): Independence National Historical Park

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.