Lowell Walks

Updated July 9, 2024 – Currently there are no Lowell Walks scheduled for 2024. However, Richard Howe will sometimes partner with other entities to conduct walking tours of Lowell. For early notice of these tours, sign up for Richard’s free weekly newsletter. Delivered to your in box every Sunday morning, the Lowell Politics newsletter analyzes local politics in Lowell each week but also includes upcoming events related to Lowell history, including newly scheduled walking tours.

History of Lowell Walks

Lowell Walks was founded by Richard Howe in 2015. A series of free, 90-minute long, guided walks of downtown Lowell, each led by a different volunteer guide, Lowell Walks has averaged 100 people per walk. Besides informing participants of interesting facets of Lowell history, the walks promote downtown businesses, create a sense of community among participants, and create momentum to make the city a more walkable place.

Virtual Walks

The Covid-19 crisis has caused many of the 2020 Lowell Walks to be cancelled, however, we are producing “virtual walks” in place of in-person walks:

Lowell Cemetery (video tour)

Lowell Cemetery Part II (video tour)

Lowell Memorial Auditorium Monuments (video tour)

Civil War Lowell: Episode 1, Lords of the Loom (video tour)

Civil War Lowell: Episode 2, Minutemen of 1861 (video tour)

Civil War Lowell: Episode 3, Butler Saves the Union (video tour)

The Acre (written script with photos)

South Common (written script with photos)

2020 Schedule

For 2020, Lowell Walks partnered with Lowell National Historical Park to create an extensive series of walking tours running from March to November. A number of the walks have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and upcoming walks have been put on hold until circumstances change. But here’s the list to remind you of what was planned:

  • March 7 – Women’s Activism in Lowell w/ NPS (and potential feature of Lowell Women’s Week Executive Committee) – starts at Visitor Center
  • March 14 – Acre/North Common Walk w/ Dave McKean – starts at Visitor Center
  • March 28 – Mill Girl Literature w/ NPS and Bridget Marshall – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • April 11 – Memorial Auditorium w/ Dick Howe – starts at Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 East Merrimack Street
  • April 25 – Lowell Cemetery w/ Dick Howe – at Lowell Cemetery
  • May 2 – Lowell’s Radical Labor History w/ NPS – start at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • May 9 – Doors Open Lowell / Franco School w/ Dick Howe and CBA
  • May 23 – Cambodiatown w/ Dick Howe and CMAA – starts at Clemente Park, 974 Middlesex Street
  • June 6 – 20th Century LGBTQ History w/ NPS and Dre Vargas – starts at Visitor Center
  • June 13 – Slavery in Lowell and the Underground Railroad w/ NPS and Jacquelynn Coles – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • June 27 – Middlesex Village w/ Dick Howe – starts at Hadley Field, 1650 Middlesex Street (corner of Baldwin and Middlesex)
  • July 11 – Hamilton Canal District Architecture w/ NPS and City of Lowell
  • July 18 – Colombian Community in Lowell w/ NPS – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • August 1 – Rise and Demise of Surface Rail w/ NPS – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • August 8 – Public Art in Central Lowell w/ Rosemary Noon and Paul Marion – starts at Visitor Center
  • August 22 – City Hall Monuments w/ Dick Howe – starts at Visitor CenterAugust 29 – Women’s Suffrage and Enfranchisement w/ NPS – starts at South Common, corner of Thorndike and Summer Streets
  • September 5 – Lowell’s Radical Labor History w/ NPS – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • September 19 – Acre Foodways w/ NPS and Joey Banh – starting location TBD
  • September 26 – Lowell Cemetery w/ Dick Howe – at Lowell Cemetery
  • October 3 – 19th Century LGBTQ History w/ NPS and Deb Fowler – starts at Visitor Center
  • October 10 – Literary Lowell w/ NPS, Sean Thibodeau, and Joey Banh – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • October 17 – Indigenous History in Lowell  w/ NPS – starts at Visitor Center (to be confirmed)
  • October 24 – Boott Mills Archaeology w/ NPS – starts at Boott Cotton Mills Museum

Here are the walks we have held in past years:

2019

Lowell Walks was on sabbatical in 2019.

2018

  • City Hall & Pollard Memorial Library with Sean Thibodeau
  • Infamous Lowell Crimes with Kerry Regan Jenness & Wayne Jenness
  • Downtown Architecture with Steve Stowell (Lowell Historic Board)
  • Moody Street with Dick Howe & Coalition for a Better Acre
  • Downtown Galleries & Cultural Places with Liz Stewart (COOL)
  • Hamilton Canal District Update with Claire Ricker (Lowell DPD)
  • Lowell in World War One with Dick Howe
  • City Hall Monuments with Dick Howe
  • Lowell Cemetery with Dick Howe
  • Lowell National Park 40th Birthday Walk (LNHP)
  • Abolitionism in Lowell with Bob Forrant (LNHP)
  • Little Canada with Bob Forrant (LNHP)
  • Immigration History with Bob Forrant (LNHP)
  • Labor History with Bob Forrant (LNHP)

 

Bob Forrant – Abolitionism in Lowell tour

2017

  • Western Canal with Dick Howe (150)
  • Abolitionism with Bob Forrant & Emily Yunes (226)
  • Churches, Art & Architecture with Dave McKean & Rosemary Noon (111)
  • Lowell Poems with Paul Marion (84)
  • Kerouac Downtown with Sean Thibodeau & Roger Brunelle (96)
  • Lowell Fires with Jason Strunk (98)
  • Northern Canal Urban Renewal with Chris Hayes & Aurora Erickson (90)
  • Hamilton Canal with Claire Ricker (110)
  • Public Health with Sue Levine & Clare Gunther (50)
  • Mill Girls of Lowell with Tess Shatzer (105)

 

Steve Panagiotakos – Greeks in the Acre tour

2016

  • Preservation Success Stories with Fred Faust (110)
  • Hamilton Canal Update with Craig Thomas (105)
  • Irish in the Acre with Dave McKean (115)
  • Literary Lowell with Sean Thibodeau (105)
  • Upper Merrimack Street with Yun-Ju Choi (88)
  • Major Downtown Fires with Jason Strunk (98)
  • Public Art Collection with Paul Marion & Rosemary Noon (70)
  • Greeks in the Acre with Steve Panagiotakos (109)
  • East Merrimack Street with Dick Howe (90)
  • Lowell National Historical Park with Celeste Bernardo (135)

 

Paul Marion & Rosemary Noon Public Art tour

2015

  • Public Art with Paul Marion & Rosemary Noon (107)
  • Literary Lowell & Pollard Library with Sean Thibodeau (76)
  • Triumphs of Preservation with Fred Faust (81)
  • Hamilton Canal District with Allison Lamey (129)
  • Inside Lowell High School with Brian Martin (86)
  • Trains & Trolleys in Lowell with Christopher Hayes (120)
  • Irish in the Acre with Dave McKean (125)
  • Abolitionists in Lowell with Bob Forrant (119)
  • Natural Lowell with Jane Calvin (75)
  •  Green Buildings in Lowell with Jay Mason (43)
  •  Artists Past & Present with Jim Dyment (86)
  •  Renewing the Acre with Dave Ouellette (105)
  •  Lowell Monuments with Dick Howe (167)