Kerouac Birthplace - 7 Lupine Rd, Lowell

Taking advantage of the wonderful weather, I joined 35 others on a 3.5 hour, 5+ mile walking tour of Jack Kerouac’s Lowell. Tour guides Mike Wurm and Bill Walsh explained that while all of the sites on this tour had been covered on previous tours, this was the first to do them all at the same time. It was an ambitious walk that began at the Kerouac Commemorative at Bridge and French Streets and then stopped at the many houses in Centralville and Pawtucketville in which the Kerouac family had lived, and at many other places important in Kerouac’s life and work. Here’s the route we took:

• Begin at Kerouac Commemorative
• Cross Merrimack River on Bridge Street Bridge
• Turn left on Lakeview Ave, right on Stanley St to 66 West St
• Left on West Sixth St to St Louis Church and School
• 34 Beaulieu Street
• Victor St to Ennell to Hildreth to 240 Hildreth and 320 Hildreth
• Left on Orleans to Burnaby to 35 Burnaby St
• Back to Orleans then left on Lupine to 7 Lupine Rd
• Fred to Lakeview to Beaver to Riverside to Bodwell to Phebe to 16 Phebe Ave
• right on Sarah Ave to 35 Sarah Ave
• across University Ave to Gershom Ave
• Back on University Ave across the Moody Street Bridge (aka Textile Ave Bridge)
• Down Pawtucket past Archambault Funeral Home (site of Kerouac’s wake)
• Behind Franco American School to the Grotto
• Back along Pawtucket to Merrimack, down Merrimack to St Joseph’s High School and St Jeanne Baptiste Church
• Continue down Merrimack to Lowell City Library (aka Pollard Library) and Lowell High School

I’ve combined photos of most of these places into a short video which follows:
 
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