Upcoming cemetery tours in Lowell

Tomorrow morning (Saturday, August 28) at 9 a.m., Kim Zunino of the Lowell Historic Board will lead a tour of the School Street Cemetery. Surrounded by a stone wall in the midst of a century and a half old residential neighborhood, this cemetery is bounded by Branch, School and Middlesex Streets. I’ve passed repeatedly through my entire life, but I know nothing about it and have never set foot within it. That will all change tomorrow. I hope some of our readers can come along.

You can also mark your calendar with the dates of upcoming tours of the Lowell Cemetery with me as the tour guide. The Lowell Cemetery is located behind Shedd Park and runs all the way back to Lawrence Street and the Concord River. All tours begin at the Knapp Avenue entrance (next to Shedd Park), last about 90 minutes and are conducted rain or shine. Here are the dates and times:

Friday – September 10 – 1 pm
Saturday – September 11 – 10 am

Friday – October 1 – 1 pm
Saturday – October 2 – 10 am

One Response to Upcoming cemetery tours in Lowell

  1. Steve S says:

    The event at School Street Cemetery starts at 9:00 and runs until 3:00. Tours will be informal and sort of on a rolling basis throughout that time. Here’s some additional information. The weather is supposed to be great so come on out!

    The Lowell Historic Board and the Cemetery Division of Lowell Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting a free tour and gravestone cleaning workshop this Saturday Aug. 28, 2010 from 9am-3pm at the historic School Street Cemetery at 460 School Street in Lowell. Everyone is welcome to stop by and get a tour of this c.1810 burial ground and learn about the people buried there. There will also be a workshop to demonstrate how to properly clean gravestones and other cemetery conservation techniques.

    The School Street Cemetery, aka “City Cemetery #1” is the final resting place of the families who inhabited East Chelmsford before Lowell was founded in the 1820s. Familiar names include the Spalding, Butterfield, Allen, Coburn, and Parker families.

    Supplies for the workshop will be provided courtesy of the Lowell Parks and Recreation Department with assistance from the Water Department.