Lowell Historic Board

05/11/2026

Here’s another Preservation Month National Register of Historic Places - NPS - Archived listing in Lowell during the month of May over the years. Today we take a look at the Lowell Cemetery, listed in 1998. Established in 1841, the cemetery is an important, early example of the "rural" cemetery movement of the mid-19th century and the fourth of its kind in the United States. Click on each image to learn more!

To discover more about Lowell’s many districts and sites on the National Register, as well as architectural styles and architects who designed some of Lowell’s historic buildings, head to the Historic Places and Architecture section on our website here – https://www.lowellma.gov/982/Historic-Places-and-Architecture

05/09/2026

Our friends at Doors Open Lowell are ready to go from 10-4 today. We're looking forward to exploring many of the 23 sites they have open for viewing and their various XTRA activities.

Everything is set for the 21st Doors Open Lowell today! Don't let a little rain keep you away, at least it isn't snowing like at the first Doors Open Lowell in 2002!

23 sites are open from 10-4 at various times so check our website at www.doorsopenlowell.org for the schedule and a variety of XTRA activities throughout the day. If you haven't gotten your program guide yet, pick one up along with your event sticker at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center beginning at 9am.

And if you're hungry, please visit one of our inaugural Doors Open Lowell Restaurant Partners for special offers when wearing your blue event sticker. Head to www.doorsopenlowell.org/restaurantpartners to see offers.

Be sure to follow us here and on Instagram for event news throughout the day. See you out there!

05/08/2026

We can't wait for Doors Open Lowell tomorrow! Tremont Yard, the roof deck at 201 Canal Apartments, the Hildreth Building, and the Stone House are among the sites on our list to visit. Which sites do you want to see?

All systems are go for the 21st Doors Open Lowell tomorrow, rain or shine! Come celebrate National Preservation Month at Lowell's signature preservation, architecture, and design event. Hope to see many of you out there!

Head to our website at www.doorsopenlowell.org for complete event details and you can also pick up a program guide tomorrow at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center (246 Market Street), Mogan Cultural Center (40 French Street), and the Boott Cotton Mills Museum (115 John Street) as well as the Pollard Memorial Library (401 Merrimack Street) and the Revolutionary Valley Visitor Center (115 Merrimack Street).

05/07/2026

Preservation Month is a time to celebrate success and accomplishments but also to reflect upon unfortunate losses and to learn from them. For Throwback Thursday today we look back at the demolition of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company Dutton Street Row Houses in 1966. Click on each image to learn more.

Demolished as part of urban renewal in 1966 along with other Merrimack Company housing, the site is now the location of the Lowell High School addition. The demolition of the Merrimack boardinghouses in the 1960s helped focus community interest and planning efforts on the preservation of Lowell’s historic and cultural assets and ultimately the creation of the Lowell National Historical Park a decade later.

05/06/2026

Throughout Preservation Month, we’ll highlight the various National Register of Historic Places - NPS - Archived listings in Lowell from the month of May over the years. Today we take a look at the Rogers Fort Hill Park Historic District, listed in 1999. Typical of new neighborhoods being developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the city’s growing middle class, creation of subdivisions in outlying areas like Rogers Fort Hill Park in Belvidere and Tyler Park in the Highlands was influenced by street railways, first horse-drawn starting in 1864 and by 1889, electric trolleys.

Homes include many in the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles as well as scattered examples of Stick, Shingle, and Tudor Revival. The earliest occupied homes date from 1886 but it was not until later in the 20th century that the entire area was built out. The centerpiece of the district is Rogers Fort Hill Park, the city’s largest picturesquely designed park. Click on each image to learn more!

To discover more about Lowell’s many districts and sites on the National Register, as well as architectural styles and architects who designed some of Lowell’s historic buildings, head to the Historic Places and Architecture section on our website here – https://www.lowellma.gov/982/Historic-Places-and-Architecture

05/06/2026

As National Preservation Month continues, we’re getting excited about this coming weekend and Doors Open Lowell on Saturday May 9. This year they’re adding a new Restaurant Partners program as part of the event where several establishments are offering special offers when wearing a blue event sticker. Check it out below!

For full event information, head to www.doorsopenlowell.org and program guides can be picked up at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center on Market Street and several other locations.

05/05/2026

It’s a Preservation Month Transformation Tuesday and this week’s “then and now” is the Queen Anne style Mack Building (1886) on Shattuck Street in the Downtown Lowell Historic District. Click on each image to learn more!

05/04/2026

We’re starting off the week with some exciting news! As we enter the first full week of Preservation Month, we’re proud to announce that the Historic Board’s Sun Sign Restoration Project will be the recipient of the 2026 Preservation Massachusetts Paul and Niki Tsongas Award, being presented at their annual awards event on June 11 at Fenway Park. After being dark for nearly a decade, the twin neon signs on the roof of the Sun Building downtown were converted to LED and relit last October.

Restoration financed through the City of Lowell, MA - Government who generously provided grant funds to finance the work with additional assistance provided by the Lowell Historic Board, Lowell Heritage Partnership, and the Charlotte and Michel LaPierre Charitable Fund through the Greater Lowell Community Foundation.

Thanks to our project partners including City of Lowell, the building owners 4th AP Company, Lowell Sun, and Signs Now NH who undertook the restoration work.

Be sure to visit the Lowell Historic Board's Sun Sign Restoration Project website at www.lowellsunsign.com to learn more about the restoration, the history of the Sun Building, and its twin roof signs installed in 1934.

For more information about Preservation Massachusetts' awards event and tickets, head here - https://www.preservationmass.org/awards.

(Photo – Marte Media)

05/01/2026

As Preservation Month gears up, sponsored nationally by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, here's a little background on the origins of historic preservation in Lowell. The roots of Lowell's efforts date to community activism in the 1960s, efforts by the Lowell City Council and planning department in the early 1970s, and many individuals including educator Patrick Mogan and Congressman Paul Tsongas that ultimately led to the establishment of the Lowell Heritage State Park (1974) and the Lowell National Historical Park (1978). Since those early days, over $1 billion in development activity has taken place downtown while nesrly 99% of 5.2 million square feet of mill space has been rehabilitated with more projects underway and on the drawing board. Click on each image to learn more!

And be sure to head to our website to discover more about Lowell's preservation story - https://www.lowellma.gov/575/Preservation-in-Lowell