"The Mill City" a Lowell Travel Page by emilienoelle

Home to Jack Kerouac, Ed McMahon, Bette Davis, artist James Whistler, and the late senator Paul Tsongas, Lowell, MA is a charming, old mill city 30 miles northwest of Boston. The city has gone through many changes in its past. Following a period of bad luck in the 80's and 90's, Lowell is now in the midst of a revival featuring a rapidly growing art community, fine resturants, shops, and museums.

The population of Lowell is rich and diverse culturally. The city has a large French Canadian population, decendants of the people who migrated here to work in the textile mills in the 19th cen. Lowell also has a large Cambodian population, reportedly the second largest in the US, and fast-growing Brazilian and Hispanic populations. A large Greek community also calls the city home.

The cityscape is beautiful with its myriad smokestacks lining the Merrimack river. The downtown features cobblestone streets and the canals bisecting the city once powered the mills. Many of these buildings are now upscale condominiums, shops, or museums. An old fashioned street car offers tours of the downtown in the summer months.