Lowell, in addition to Cambridge, is one of the two traditional county seats of Middlesex. As of the most recent census, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts and the third most populous in the Boston metropolitan statistical area, with an estimated 115,554 inhabitants in 2020. Additional statistical areas in which the city is included are Greater Lowell in Massachusetts and the Merrimack Valley in New England.
Two higher education institutions are situated in Lowell. The University of Massachusetts system affiliate UMass Lowell maintains three campuses within the city. The two campuses of Middlesex Community College are located in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in the town of Bedford. Sampas Pavilion, the Whistler House Museum of Art, the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and the Lowell Memorial Auditorium are all arts facilities in the city. The city has an extensive athletic heritage in the sport of boxing, having served as the site of the yearly New England Golden Gloves boxing tournament. Both the Edward A. LeLacheur Park baseball stadium and the Tsongas Center, a multipurpose indoor sports facility, have served as venues for collegiate and minor-league professional sports teams. Learn more about the history of Lowell.
Lowell National Historical Park
Lowell, Massachusetts is the location of Lowell National Historical Park, an American National Historical Park. The National Park Service operates this park, which was founded in 1978, a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park. It consists of a collection of sites in and around the city of Lowell that are associated with the textile manufacturing industry that occurred there during the Industrial Revolution. The park was designated as the representative of Massachusetts in the America the Beautiful Quarters series in 2019.
Boott Cotton Mills Museum
The Boott Mills, located in Lowell, Massachusetts, were constructed in 1835 in conjunction with a power canal system as part of a larger cluster of cotton mills in this significant cotton community. Abbott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, and John Amory Lowell were its incorporators. Kirk Boott, the first Agent of the Proprietors of Locks & Canals in Lowell, is commemorated in the organization's name. The Boott Mills complex stands as the most intact remnant of textile mills constructed in Lowell during the antebellum period. Lowell National Historical Park, an organization of the National Park Service, oversees the original Mill No. 6. It is the location of the Boott Cotton Mills Museum and the Tsongas Industrial History Center, which provide K–12 educational programming.
National Streetcar Museum at Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts is the location of the National Streetcar Museum, a historical railway and streetcar museum. The New England Electric Railway Historical Society, which also manages the Seashore Trolley Museum, owns and administers the structure as part of Lowell National Historical Park, which is administered by the National Park Service.
The New England Quilt Museum
Established in 1987, the New England Quilt Museum is situated in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. It is the only institution of its kind in the Northeastern United States that is exclusively devoted to the craft and art of quilting. It is the United States' second-oldest textile museum. In addition to classrooms, it contains permanent and special exhibits, a library, and a museum shop. Strong collections of textiles from the 19th century, with a particular emphasis on those from New England.