This LibGuide documents the two tenement buildings that stood at the northeast corner of Pawtucket Street and University Avenue which were demolished to create Northern Canal Overlook Park. These buildings represented some of the last vestiges of the neighborhood know as Little Canada (Le Petit Canada) which was home to French Canadians and their descendants who migrated to Lowell seeking textile mill jobs and other employment. Little Canada was demolished in 1964 by the Lowell Housing Authority. Both of the Pawtucket Street buildings were listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places as contributing properties to the Downtown Lowell Historic District and the Lowell National Historical Park.
193 Pawtucket Street, constructed ca. 1906-1910, consisted of a three-story wood-frame residential apartment building, with fiber-cement siding, vinyl sash, and fieldstone foundation. The building housed six apartments and one small retail space at the first floor. The building underwent a substantial renovation following a severe fire that burned all but one of the units.
199 Pawtucket Street, the An O. Deziel Building, was constructed ca. 1906-1910, and consisted of a three-story wood-frame residential apartment building with fiber-cement siding, vinyl sash, and fieldstone foundation. The building housed six apartments.
