Ayer Lion gets a cleaning at Lowell Cemetery

September 8, 2011 by DickH Posted in History, Lowell 6 Comments

The iconic Ayer Lion, the Lowell Cemetery resting place of patent medicine millionaire James C Ayer, underwent a major restoration this summer. The lion’s new look (above) is quite different than its former appearance (below) which showed the effects of rain, pollution and the natural aging process.

A great opportunity to see the new look of the Lion and to learn more about the Lowell Cemetery, comes this weekend with the first of our free guided tours which are Friday, September 9 at 1 pm and Saturday, September 10 at 10 am. The tours begin at the Knapp Avenue entrance to the cemetery where there’s plenty of parking; there’s no pre-registration requirement; and they take about 90 minutes of walking. The tours go rain or shine but unlike the weather so far this week, the forecast for this weekend looks fine.

NOTE: There’s a date change to the second set of tours. They are now on Friday, September 23 at 1 pm and on Saturday, September 24 at 10 am (and not on Sept 30 and Oct 1 as I previously wrote).

6 Responses to Ayer Lion gets a cleaning at Lowell Cemetery

Dean says: September 8, 2011 at 8:56 am

I would like to know how someone cleans a marble statue ? What material to they use ?
Corey says: September 8, 2011 at 9:03 am

Wow, they did a great job. Never noticed the lion’s expression before.
Dave M. says: September 8, 2011 at 11:04 am

Please correct me if I’m wrong.The lion’s new look is quite different FROM its former appearance.
DickH says: September 9, 2011 at 6:23 am

From, than . . . effect and affect give me a lot of trouble, too.
Diana Howland says: September 10, 2011 at 10:03 pm

It looks GREAT all clean!!
PattyO says: September 13, 2011 at 10:09 am

Hi Dick,

Thanks so much for the great tour on Saturday. My son, despite wandering through a lot of it, enjoyed it so much we went back on Sunday and spent a few hours walking around looking at the interesting stones!