Lowell, Images of Modern America

Lowell, Massachusetts, stands apart as an exceptional city. Bursting onto the scene in the 1820s, Lowell quickly became the workshop of America, powered by the mighty Merrimack River and staffed by tens of thousands of immigrants. Even as the mill era faded, people from around the world kept coming to live and work in Lowell. In the 1970s, community leaders imagined a new Lowell built on its legendary past and echoing its early innovation, a renewed city that is now a global model for urban revitalization. Since then, more than 400 buildings have been preserved, and the city has become a hub of higher education, a center for the arts, and home to a National Historical Park. This remarkable transformation has been fueled by the cultural vitality of its people, which is continuously refreshed by new arrivals from every corner of the globe.