Skip to Main Content

The Town & the City: Lowell before and after The Civil War

Originally created to be a digital archive for Lowell documents from 1826 to 1861, this website has grown to cover many periods and events in Lowell's history.

View of Lowell, 1834 and East Chelmsford (soon to be Lowell) 1825

View of Lowell Mass. by E. A. [Eliza Ann] Ferrar, 1834
(see the "Interactive exhibits" page for a close-up and detailed view of this lithograph)

East Chelmsford (Lowell) in 1825 by Benjamin Mather

Compare this with Ferrar's painting above created just nine years later.

The perspectives are different; however, Saint Anne's is in the middle in both paintings.

According to Wilson Waters, "From left to right the principal buildings are the Machine Shop, the Merrimack Mills, St. Anne's Church, and Kirk Boott's house at the extreme right."

These four buildings are numbered and labeled in the 1834 painting.

Maps & Images

People

John Amory Lowell (1798 - 1881)

John Amory Lowell

Location - City Council Chamber at Lowell City Hall

Artist - George Peter Alexander Healy (1813 - 1894)

Height 95" (7' 11") Width 57" (4' 9")

 

Patrick Tracy Jackson (1780 - 1847)

Patrick Tracy Jackson

The image above is of Patrick Tracy Jackson. There is a painting of P. T. Jackson currently located in the 2nd Floor Hallway of Lowell City Hall and is viewable by the public. The image above is a not from that  painting.The height of the work at Cih Hall is 95 inches (7' 11") and the width is 57 inches (3' 9"). The artist is George Peter Alexander Healy.

[This painting was designed to be in a much larger space (compare viewing this with the portrait of John A. Lowell in the City Council Chamber on the same floor). Because of the small viewing area and the plate of glass covering the painting, a high-quality color digital photograph is not possible at this time.]

Nathan Appleton (1779 - 1861)

Nathan Appleton

The two images above are of Nathan Appleton as portrayed in a painting currently located in the 2nd Floor Hallway of Lowell City Hall and is viewable by the public. The top image above is a black & white copy of the full painting, and the image below that one is a detail from the painting.The height of the work is 95 inches (7' 11") and the width is 59 inches (4' 11"). The artist is George Peter Alexander Healy.

[This painting was designed to be in a much larger space (compare viewing this with the portrait of John A. Lowell in the City Council Chamber on the same floor). Because of the small viewing area and the plate of glass covering the painting, a high-quality color digital photograph is not possible at this time.]

Kirk Boott (1790 - 1837)

Kirk Boott

The image above is of Kirk Boott as portrayed in a painting currently located in the 2nd Floor Hallway of Lowell City Hall and is viewable by the public. The image above is a detail from the painting with some cropping from the edges.The height of the work is 97 inches (8' 1") and the width is 60 inches (4'). The artist is Chester Harding.

[This painting was designed to be in a much larger space (compare viewing this with the portrait of John A. Lowell in the City Council Chamber on the same floor). Because of the small viewing area and the plate of glass covering the painting, a high-quality color digital photograph is not possible at this time.]

Abbott Lawrence (1792 - 1855)

Abbott Lawrence

The image above is of Abbott Lawrence. There is a painting of Abbott Lawrence currently located in the 2nd Floor Hallway of Lowell City Hall and is viewable by the public. The image above is a not from that  painting.The height of the work at Cih Hall is 96 inches (8') and the width is 60 inches (4'). The artist is Chester Harding.

[This painting was designed to be in a much larger space (compare viewing this with the portrait of John A. Lowell in the City Council Chamber on the same floor). Because of the small viewing area and the plate of glass covering the painting, a high-quality color digital photograph is not possible at this time.]

Gallery