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Ladd & Whitney Monument detail
The city of Lowell seal on the Ladd and Whitney Monument. Photo by Tony Sampas.
Read More »History
From Forgotten New England: Lowell’s Sacred Heart School Fire, 1967
Over on the “Forgotten New England” blog there’s another installment in the Fires of Lowell, Massachusetts series. This story of the Sacred Heart School fire in 1967 tears at my memory, my heartstrings and the fabric of my family history. My grandfather – Patrick J. Kirwin was a member of…
Read More »“Coke constantly on hand”
This 1870’s ad for the Lowell Gas Light Company is a pretty good example of how the meaning of words may change over time. In this case, the product advertized was a by-product of the coal gasification process that yielded the illuminating gas that was used to light the city’s…
Read More »Cold Common
Cold morning. Glove-cold. Bright clear sky. The blue-disc sun is warming if you step into its 98-million-mile-away rays, exactly, but otherwise the air is frigid. This is weather for staying in. I didn’t see any random walkers in the South Common Historic District. One man in a jacket over hooded sweatshirt…
Read More »Grammy Awards on TV Tonight
I’m a fan of the entertainment industry award shows on TV. Tonight, we get to see the Grammy Awards. The production was revamped last year to include more music than the shows used to offer. If you are not someone who keeps up with the latest in Music, like me,…
Read More »“Gerrymander” Born in Massachusetts ~ February 11, 1812
MassMoments reminds us that on this day February 11, 1812 the infamous political creature known as the “Gerrymander” was born in the Massachusetts State House – conceived by then Governor Elbridge Gerry – a staunch Democrat-Republican. Caught in a nasty campaign for control of the government, Gerry sign a redistricting bill…
Read More »Blog Review of Joe Donahue’s New Book of Poetry
Poet and writer John Olson reviewed Joseph Donahue’s new collection of poetry, “Dissolves: Terra Lucida, IV-VIII,” on his blog called Tillalala Chronicles. Read the thoughtful, in-depth review here. I have Joe’s book on the side table in the living room and am reading it in small sections. When I have…
Read More »Veterans of Korean Conflict Memorial
The city’s memorial to veterans of the Korean Conflict, located on the grounds of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Photo by Tony Sampas.
Read More »Another Day
The sunrise sky over the Concord River glowed like a tutti-frutti candy cane this morning if you were lucky enough to see the brief display just after 6 a.m. At the South Common it was quiet except for a few people moving through on their way to someplace else. These…
Read More »The Blizzard of ’78
I don’t want to jinx us, but I realized yesterday that the only time I’ve started my snow blower this winter was in early October when I was making sure that it would start OK. Perhaps I was contemplating snow yesterday because it was the anniversary of the great blizzard…
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