There are some fascinating things to do in Lowell, Massachussetts — the place where industry really seemed to take hold in America in the 19th Century — especially if you are a lover of history and have an interest in labor relations. If this sounds like you, you may want to book youself into one of the hotels in Lowell and stay a few days to really explore.
Lowell is unique in that it contains a National Historical Park right in the middle of the city. The park’s goal is to preserve the history of the American Industrial Revolution; guided tours, held every day of the week, will take you through cotton textile mills and over five miles of canals. The place to start? The Market Mills Visitor Center. This structure used to be the Bigelow Carpet Company’s main complex; it’s here that you can figure out the best way to see the park. You can make reservations for the tours, start exploring the exhibits, and also view a slide show, titled “Lowell: The Industrial Revelation,” to give you a proper grounding in the history of this place.
There are several museums to examine in Lowell, and combined they create the planet’s biggest textile museum. You’ll see about a hundred exhibits that show you everything from the inside of a weaver’s log cabin from the 18th Century to an actual working woolen mill from the 1870s. In the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, you’ll hear see what a 1920s weave room looked and sounded like (with the roaring sound of looms), as well as exhibits on labor and the Industrial Revolution. The Mill Girls and Immigrants Exhibit takes you into an actual Boott Mill boardinghouse to show how people lived and worked in that time period. The National Streetcar Museum, housed in the Mack Building on 25 Shattuck Street can instruct you on the history of trolleys in Lowell, providing you with a ride on Desire, a period electric street car.
In addition, you’ll find the New England Quilt Museum, and the Whistler House. In the former, you’ll see exhibits concerning American quilting, from the past to today; the Whistler House Museum of Art operates to display art work and has done so since 1908. Lowell is a perfect place to get away and rest; however, if you desire city life, then Boston is only about twenty-six miles away.