Complete information about visiting Lowell National Historical Park is now on National Park Planner!
Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, preserves the history of the first city in the United States that was created strictly as a manufacturing center. Known as the Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Lowell started out as the farming village of East Chelmsford, which by the late 1700s had a population of only a few hundred people. By 1836, when the area was incorporated as the City of Lowell, the population was nearly 18,000. By 1850, Lowell was the second largest city in Massachusetts. All of this was the result of textile mills that were built to take advantage of the water power provided by the little-used Pawtucket Canal.
In 1978, Lowell National Historical Park was created to educate visitors about the city’s vital role in the Industrial Revolution. However, unlike a traditional National Park with an entrance gate and boundary, the park covers the entire downtown area. Visitors can explore five miles of canals on foot via four urban trails, or better yet, get right on the water by attending one of the boat trips offered by the National Park Service. To learn about the city and the Industrial Revolution, visitors are urged to stop by one of the park’s three museums. A small exhibit that covers the city’s history is located at the Visitor Center; actual looms from the early 1900s produce cloth at the massive Boott Cotton Mills Museum, the park’s source of information about the textile industry in Lowell: and the Mill Girls and Immigrants Exhibit focuses on the life of the women who worked at the mills and the immigrants who eventually replaced them starting in the mid-1800s.
DIRECTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
With a few exceptions, use of any photograph on the National Park Planner website requires a paid Royalty Free Editorial Use License or Commercial Use License. See the Photo Usage page for details.
Last updated on March 29, 2026
