Lowell National Historical Park

The Bon Marché was a department store in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, in business from 1878 to 1976.Frederic Mitchell founded a dry goods store in 1878 under the name "This is Mitchell's". His brother Charles Mitchell operated a shoe store. Both stores were on Merrimack Street. In 1887, Frederick and Charles combined their operation, under the name The Bon Marché.Of the building that became the Bon Marché store, the small righthand section was built around 1874 (before Bon Marché existed). The large central section was built in 1887 to house the new Bon Marché Dry Goods store. The addition on the left side (matching the original right side building) was built in 1927.In the manner of the day, wares were sold outside on the street. Customers included the workers of the city's many textile mills. The store was on Merrimack Street in the heart of the commercial district of what was then the prosperous and growing city of Lowell.Even in its early days, Bon Marché billed itself as the largest department store in New England. Their Rock Bottom Basement Store featured an actual rock, a large glacial erratic which the basement was built around. The store was an anchor of Lowell's mercantile downtown. Its fortunes declined with the city as the mills closed. The last day of business was January 10, 1976. The building was taken over by the Jordan Marsh chain, which itself became defunct in 1996; the building now houses the UMass Lowell bookstore and other businesses.

The Lowell Museum, located in Lowell, Massachusetts, was founded by Moses Kimball in 1840, as an art exhibit hall and entertainment venue.

The New England Quilt Museum, founded in 1987, is located in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts and is the only institute in the Northeastern United States solely dedicated to the art and craft of quilting. It is the second-oldest quilt museum in the United States. It houses special and permanent exhibits, a library, a museum shop, and classrooms. Collections are strong in 19th century quilts, with a geographic focus on New England.

The Lowell Historic Preservation District is a historic district created by the legislation establishing Lowell National Historic Park. The district encompasses an area of more than 500 acres (200 ha), including virtually all of the historically significant resources associated with the industrial history of the city of Lowell, Massachusetts. It includes the industrial mill complexes, worker housing areas, central business district, and civic heart of the city, as well as the water power infrastructure that powered the mills.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Boott Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts were a part of an extensive group of cotton mills, built in 1835 alongside a power canal system in this important cotton town. Its incorporators were Abbott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, and John Amory Lowell, and is named after Kirk Boott, the first Agent of the Proprietors of Locks & Canals in Lowell. Today, the Boott Mills complex is the most complete remainder of antebellum textile mills built in Lowell. The original Mill No. 6 is managed by the National Park Service unit Lowell National Historical Park and houses the Boott Cotton Mills Museum and the Tsongas Industrial History Center for K-12 educational programs.

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.

The City Hall Historic District is a historic district in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, bound roughly by Broadway, Colburn, and Kirk streets. The centerpiece of the district is the Richardsonian Romanesque City Hall, built in 1893 to a design by Merrill & Cutler, with its 180-foot (55 m) clock tower.The district features Greek Revival and Romanesque Revival architecture, including work by Kirk Boott. City Hall Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and expanded in 1988.

The F. Bradford Morse Federal Building, formerly the United States Post Office is a historic post office at 50 Kearney Square in Lowell, Massachusetts. The building was designed by George Augustine Daidy and was built in 1930. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The building was acquired in 1996 by Middlesex Community College, which renovated the facility for $11 million. It was renamed in honor of local Congressman and statesman F. Bradford Morse on December 8, 2006.Today, the building houses the MCC Lowell campus library, the Honors Center, and art studio and classrooms.It is distinct from 1895 Lowell Post Office, which is also listed on the National Register.

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 Rex Center was an arena and entertainment center in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, existing from 1933 to 1960. Entrepreneur and car dealer Charles Dancause created the Rex, which opened in 1933 in a renovated mill building, the old Prescott Division Plant of Mass Cotton Mills. The architect of the conversion was Harry Prescott Graves.Among the entertainments offered at the Rex was dining (the Rex Grille, which also offered floorshows), bars, a dancing ballroom, duckpin bowling (65 lanes), roller skating, pool (30 tables), and Turkish baths. There were five banquet halls; banquets, wedding receptions, and other events were held there. The Rex Center constituted an important part of Lowell social life in the mid 20th century; the Lowell Sun described it as "one of Lowell's landmark spots" and "the sports and dining showplace of Lowell".The Rex Arena in the center seated 1,000 or 2,000 and hosted boxing matches, and also wrestling matches (featuring appearances by Jim Londos, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, The French Angel, Man Mountain Dean, Dropkick Murphy, Bull Curry and many others), particularly after the older Crescent Rink on Hurd Street burned down. Semi-pro basketball games were played there, and the Harlem Globetrotters appeared there.The Rex Center burned down on June 25, 1960. The huge fire raged out of control for several hours, and of the more than 300 firefighters from Lowell and 14 other towns, sixteen were injured. The derelict building was torn down in 1971 and replaced with a parking lot. Wang Laboratories built a training center at the site in 1984, which in 1990 was purchased by Middlesex Community College and is now used as its Lowell campus.

Samuel Pollard Memorial Library or Pollard Memorial Library is the main branch of the public library in Lowell, Massachusetts.