Lowell

We live in historic Lowell Massachusetts.

We own a loft on the top floor of the building that previously held the American Textile History Museum, it is in an old converted mill building. The loft is a really cool space with 12 foot ceilings and 10 foot windows with great views of the city and magnificent sunsets.

Founded in the 1820s as a planned manufacturing center for textiles, Lowell is located on the Merrimack River, and is named after Francis Cabot Lowell, who led the group of investors that founded the city.

By the 1850s Lowell had the largest industrial complex in the United States, attracting immigrant workers from many countries including Ireland, Germany and Canada. Later waves of immigrants included Portuguese, Polish, Lithuanians Swedes, and eastern European Jews.

The city continued to thrive as a major industrial center during the 19th century, but by the 1920’s the city fell into decline as many companies began to relocate to the South. During the great depression more than one third of its population was on relief. Despite a short lived revival during World War Two, when the mills were reopened to make parachutes the last textiles mills closed in the post war years.

The Lowell revival began in the 70’s with Wang computer.  Lowell became home to thousands of new immigrants, many from Cambodia, following the genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

Lowell hosts the nation’s largest free folk festival, Lowell Folk Festival, as well as many other cultural events. The city has done a good job of attracting business and people back to the city in recent years. Many of the old mill buildings have been converted to homes. In 2007 we purchased our loft in the one of the former mill buildings in downtown Lowell.

Lowell is also home to two minor league sports teams, the Lowell Devils and Lowell Spinners as well as the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Middlesex Community College.