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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Open Doors Lowell, My Favorite Time to Visit the City

For 17 years in May, Lowell, Massachusetts has had a weekend called, Open Doors Lowell. This takes place on Friday evening and then during two time frames on Saturday. This year there were over 30 sites for the public to see, free of charge. These places are not normally open to the public during the year. In May, I saw seven new to me things, and several were offered for the first time. Even though I've gone the past four years, I still haven't seen everything.

My post has photos recently taken, and a few to show what certain things used to look like.

I saw the following:
The 1876  Frederick Ayer Mansion, aka, the Franco American School / orphanage, original building, newly renovated.
The Lowell National Historical Park Trolley Barn, in No. 6 Mill (1871) of the Boott Cotton Mills.
Hamilton Wastewater Gatehouse.
The 1892 Fairburn Building, to see a private collection of Lowell patent medicine memorabilia.
1848 Moody Street Feeder Gatehouse.
1859 Lowell Gas Light Company Building.
Swamp Locks Gatehouse, over the Pawtucket Canal.


The 1876  Frederick Ayer Mansion, aka, the Franco American School / orphanage, original building, newly renovated for offices. For more photos, see my post of July 30, 2018.



The Lowell National Historical Park Trolley Barn, in No. 6 Mill (1871) of the Boott Cotton Mills



View of Arthur's Paradise Diner on Bridge Street.

The 1892 Fairburn Building at 10 Kearney Square (corner of Bridge and Merrimack Sts.) We saw a resident's private collection of Lowell patent medicine memorabilia.






1848 Moody Street Feeder Gatehouse. "It regulated the flow of water through the underground Moody Street Feeder connecting the Western Canal to the Merrimack Canal." (Per information flyer for Doors-Open-Lowell.)

Unfortunately, the inside lighting was poor, and there were too many people. 

1859 Lowell Gas Light Company Building
at 22 Shattuck Street

We saw the hallway and a few rooms.

The Hamilton Wastewater Gatehouse, door opened to show the inside, but unfortunately, it hasn't been repaired yet.


All the mills on Jackson St. have been renovated, as shown above, except the gatehouse. Photos from 2014 show how the area looked.


Swamp Locks Gatehouse, over the Pawtucket Canal

Both these pictures were taken from the gatehouse.

We walked through the entire length of the Gatehouse.

I have decided not to use the Comment feature for my blog. If you would like to leave a comment for me or ask a question, please write me at my email: BarbaraPoole@Gmail.com. Thank you.

My reason is because since November 2017 to May 2018, I received no comments, but upon investigating I found that I had indeed received 167 legitimate ones and 1,000 were in the spam folder. Google Blogger had made some changes that I was unaware of. Please be aware that I do not know who reads my blog, I may know who subscribes, but that is all.