Lowell Fun Facts

Fun Facts about Lowell, MA

  • Lowell was America's first planned industrial city.
  • Lowell was named by the National Crime Prevention Council as one of six safer cities in the country for its drastic reduction of crime.
  • The Lowell Spinners, minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, have sold out a Minor League record 228 straight games, and there is currently a long waiting list for season tickets.
  • Lowell's population of Southeast Asian residents is the largest on the East Coast, and second largest in the US.
  • Moxie soda was created in Lowell in 1876 and was the first mass produced soft drink in the US.
  • There are 5.6 miles of canals at Lowell National Historical Park. The canals channeled the Merrimack River's 32 foot drop to Lowell's mills providing power for the mills.
  • By 1850 the Lowell’s textile mills annually produced enough cloth to encircle the earth twice!
  • The highest recorded temperature was 103°F in 1948.
  • The lowest recorded temperature was -17°F in 1994.
  • The first CVS Pharmacy was opened in Lowell in 1963.
  • Lowell is the fourth largest city in Massachusetts
  • Downtown Lowell is part of a National Park, established in 1979, and is the first urban National Park in the United States.
  • The Merrimack Repertory Theatre, located in downtown Lowell, is one of the few self-sustaining repertory theater groups in the Northeast United States.
  • Lowell hosts the only fair trade festival in the world – the New England Culture Fest.
  • The Lowell Mill Girls made up ¾ of the workforce in the Lowell textile mills, the highest number of female employees anywhere at the time.
  • Lowell held the 2006 World Curling Championships for men on April 1st at the Tsongas Arena.
  • Lowell resident Charles Herbert Allen was the first Governor of Puerto Rico. When Allen retired in 1902, the island government was out of debt and had more than a million dollars in its treasury.
  • Wang Laboratories Computer Company was founded in Lowell.
  • Telephone numbers were invented in Lowell.
  • The Francis Turbine, a highly efficient water powered turbine, was invented in Lowell.
  • The motto of the city of Lowell is “Art is the handmaid of human good.”
  • Some of Lowell’s nicknames include Mill City and Spindle City.
  • UMass Lowell was named one of the best colleges in the United States in 2008 by US News and World Report.
  • The home and birthplace of James McNeill Whistler, painter of the world famous Whistler’s Mother, is the permanent home of the Lowell Art Association.
  • The clock tower on the Lowell City Hall is said to have been built so high so that the mill workers would know the correct time, and not be cheated out of proper wages by incorrect mill time clocks.
  • A Lowell institution, Elliot’s Hot Dogs, was named for the preacher who was the first settler in the are. The restaurant has a tiled counter, where the name “Elliot” is misspelled “Elliott”.
  • The Lowell Cemetery is the 4th oldest garden cemetery in the United States, dating back to the 1840’s.
  • The Acre is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and considered the American Gateway for immigrants from Ireland, Cambodia, Greece, Canada, and many other countries.
  • The Ymittos Candle Company in Lowell produced all of the candles used in the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
  • The Lowell Folk Festival is the largest free folk festival in the United States.

    • Famous Lowell Citizens, Residents & Former Residents:
    Charles Herbert Allen, Governor of Puerto Rico
    Michael Chiklis, Actor
    George Bassett Clark, Astronomer
    Bette Davis, Actress
    Olympia Dukakis, Actress
    Mary Hallaren, Director Women's Army Corps
    Jack Kerouac, Writer
    Ted Leonsis, Founder AOL
    Walker Lewis, African American Abolitionist and Early Mormon Elder
    Richard M. Linnehan, NASA Astronaut and Veterinarian
    Ed McMahon, Entertainer
    Marty Meehan, Congressman, Chancellor of UMass/Lowell
    William Henry O'Connell, Cardinal, Archdiocese of Boston
    Paul Tsongas, Congressman, United States Senator, and Democratic Presidential Candidate
    Niki Tsongas, Congresswoman
    An Wang, inventor and businessman
    Micky Ward, boxer