Lowell, Massachusetts

The following is a timeline of the history of Lowell, Massachusetts, US.

The Owl Diner, formerly known as the Monarch Diner is a historic diner at 246 Appleton Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. The diner was built by Worcester Lunch Car Company as #749 in 1940, and was originally located in Waltham, Massachusetts, where it operated as the Monarch Diner. In 1951 the diner was moved to its present location in Lowell. The manufactured portion of the diner is nine bays wide and four deep, with enamel wall panels and a metal monitor-shaped roof; it is a rare regional example of a semi-streamlined form. Its present center entry was probably built when the diner was moved, as was the concrete block addition in the rear which houses the kitchen and restrooms. A second addition on the diner's south end adds seating space; it was probably added between 1952 and 1966. The diner is the last (out of sixteen) that once operated in the city.The diner was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The Howe Building is a historic commercial building at 208 Middlesex Street in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. The four story brick building was built in 1883, and is one of the city's finest Queen Anne commercial buildings. Its architecturally prominent features include a mansard roof (unusual for the style and period), and a large central stepped gable with an arched window at the center. It was built by John F. and Henry C. Howe, brothers who were heavily involved in the commercial development of downtown Lowell who also sat on the city council.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Warren Fox Building is a historic commercial building in Lowell, Massachusetts. The four-story brick building was built in 1884 by Warren Fox, and is a good example of commercial Queen Anne architecture. The building is nine bays wide; brick piers rise surrounding the central bay, where the main entrance is, and rise above the level of the flat roof to form a cornice.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989; it was included in the bounds of the Lowell National Historical Park in 1978.

Lowell station, officially the Charles A. Gallagher Transit Terminal, is an intermodal transit station in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is located off Thorndike Street (Route 3A) near the end of the Lowell Connector south of downtown Lowell. The station is the northern terminal of the MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line, with three garages for park and ride purposes. The Robert B. Kennedy Bus Transfer Center is the hub for Lowell Regional Transit Authority local bus service. The station complex is accessible, with elevators connecting the station building to the rail platform.

The American Textile History Museum (ATHM), located in Lowell, Massachusetts, was founded as the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum (MVTM) in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1960 by Caroline Stevens Rogers. ATHM told America’s story through the art, science, and history of textiles. In June 2016, the museum closed.The bulk of the library and archives as well as many fabric samples were acquired by Cornell University.

The South Common Historic District of Lowell, Massachusetts, encompasses the city's South Common and the various public, religious, and private residential buildings that flank its borders. The South Common, about 22.5 acres (9.1 ha) in size, was purchased by the city in 1845 in an auction by the Proprietors of Locks and Canals, who owned much of the city's industrial area. Although the common was landscaped, it was not apparently done so to a plan. It quickly became lined with fashionable residences, and several iconic public buildings, including the 1850 courthouse, a Romantic Revival structure designed by Ammi Young, and a series of Gothic Revival churches. Highland Avenue was built out with a series of fine Italianate houses.Per the January, 1981 Massachusetts Historic Commission application, in the 1850s a land owner living on the east side of the proposed South Common, Patrick Manice, refused to sell his property to the City of Lowell. The city then enclosed his property, with he and his family within with a wooden fence. Friends supported Manice by slipping food through the slats of the fence. He surrendered his house in 1856 for $3500, and the parcel was subsequently nicknamed "Manice's Spite". In 1905, the city built a running track a baseball field and a children's gymnasium on the common as a 'city experiment'. In addition to the common, the historic district encompasses many of the surrounding buildings including: 7 residential buildings on Highland Street,7 properties on Summer Street including the Eliot Church,Eliot School on Favor Street,Hood's Laboratory (Thorndike Street) - Originally built to produce 'Hood's Sarsaparilla', the former Lowell Jail (Thorndike Street) later housing Keith Academy Catholic High School,St. John's Church (Gorham Street), St. Peter's Church and Rectory (Gorham Street) and, the Middlesex County Courthouse (Gorham Street). The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Whistler House Museum of Art is the birthplace of painter and etcher James McNeill Whistler. It is located at 243 Worthen Street, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA, and is open as a museum displaying works from the museum collection and shows by artist members.

The Merrimack Canal is a power canal in Lowell, Massachusetts. The canal, dug in the 1820s, begins at the Pawtucket Canal just above Swamp Locks, and empties into the Merrimack River near the Boott Cotton Mills. The Merrimack Canal was the first major canal to be dug at Lowell exclusively for power purposes, and delivered 32 feet (9.8 m) of hydraulic head to the mills of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company. The Merrimack Manufacturing Company was the first of the major textile mills constructed in Lowell. It was demolished around 1960. The canal, which runs along the southeast side of Dutton Street and then between the two halves of Lowell High School, is unique in the Lowell Canal System as it delivers the full 32-foot (9.8 m) drop of the Merrimack at once, instead of operating on a 13-foot (4.0 m) and a 17-foot (5.2 m) two-level system.

The 1895 Lowell Post Office is an historic post office building at 89 Appleton Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. The imposing two-story granite building was completed in 1895 to a design by W. J. Edbrooke. The building has an H shape, and has a profusion of typical Richardsonian Romanesque features, included rounded arches over windows and a recessed entry. The focal point of the building is its five-story square clock tower, which is topped by a pyramidal roof supported by tripled round arches on each face.The building was used as a post office until 1936, when a new building on Kearney Square (now the F. Bradford Morse Federal Building) was put in service. The building continued to house federal offices until the 1970s, by which time its ownership had been transferred to the city. The city then used it for offices until the 1990s.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It now houses a division of the Middlesex County juvenile court system.

Lowell Heritage State Park is a public recreation area and historical preserve located in Lowell, Massachusetts, that protects and promotes the city's seminal role in the American Industrial Revolution. The state park was established in 1974 as a precursor to Lowell National Historical Park, which was created in 1978. Aside from the functions the national park also serves, the state park maintains additional sites around the city such as the Sampas Pavilion.

The National Streetcar Museum is a streetcar museum and heritage railway located in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is owned by the New England Electric Railway Historical Society, which also operates the Seashore Trolley Museum, and is operated as part of the National Park Service's Lowell National Historical Park.