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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Seeing Fall Reds in Lowell, Massachusetts












There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- Gotta Love the Name of Swamp Locks

"There is A Lot to Like About Lowell" is the city slogan.
(See tab on right side called "Lowell Series" for many more articles about Lowell.)

Gotta Love the Name of Swamp Locks 

Swamp Locks in October 2014.

Swamp Locks in 1975* (above).

The photo above was taken this morning in the fog (Oct. 29, 2014). The canals are emptied several times during the year, and I was glad to get this picture.

Behind the Locks is the American History Textile Museum and Lowell Sun building.
Tourists arriving back from a trip to the Francis Gate, along the man-made Pawtucket Canal. The tour is given by the National Park Service from spring to fall. Per Dick Howe, "The canal was one and one-half miles long and used four locks to accommodate the 32 foot difference in elevation between the upper Merrimack and the Concord. One of the four locks was eventually deconstructed leaving the three we have today." Please enjoy the rest of his article about the history of this canal by reading it at http://www.richardhowe.com/2011/10/13/the-pawtucket-canal/

This tour was taken during the last weekend for the year, and it was very cold. They began in rain, and ended in sun. They then boarded a waiting trolley for a short ride back to the Visitors' Center.

* PAWTUCKET CANAL: SWAMP LOCKS, TAKEN WHILE CANAL SYSTEM DRAINED: W. Richard Ansteth, Photographer 1975 - Lowell, Middlesex County, MA

Friday, October 24, 2014

War Memorials in Centralville, Lowell, Massachusetts

GREATER LOVE NO MAN HATH
WWI
THAN TO GIVE HIS LIFE.
IN MEMORY OF THE CENTRALVILLE BOYS
WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE.

LIEUT. PAUL T. KEARNEY
LIEUT. GEORGE F. STEWART
SERGT. FRANK J. LYONS
SERGT. ROY L. HUMPHREYS
CORP. GERALD T. SILK
CORP. BERNARD L. BOISVERT
FIREMAN 1ST CLASS GEORGE F.H. ROGERS
PRIV. ERNEST SMITH
PRIV. BURNO SILK
PRIV. RALPH G. HURD
PRIV. ADELARD JULIEN
PRIV. CHARLES A. WEBSTER
PRIV. JOSEPH MAILLE
PRIV. FRANK URBANEK
PRIV. CHARLES K. BUK
PRIV. LAWRENCE MOCZYROG
PRIV. EDWARD J. DONOVAN
PRIV. PETER R. MOULTON
The Frank J. Lyon Memorial Park in Centralville is at the foot of the John E. Cox Memorial aka Bridge Street Bridge.




The Centralville Memorial Park is at the foot of the Joseph R. Ouellette Bridge aka Aiken Street Bridge.

Across the street is another Memorial Park. I couldn't determine if the names were those of just veterans nor could I tell if they were for just Centralville or all of Lowell.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- We Love Our Smokestacks and Hate it When They Come Down

"There is A Lot to Like About Lowell" is the city slogan.
(See tab on right side called "Lowell Series" for many more articles about Lowell.)

We Love Our Smokestacks and Hate it When They Come Down.
 (The above photo is not that of the one damaged by lightning.)
On Saturday late afternoon, September 6th the weather was pretty wild in Lowell. Another tornado warning for our area had been posted and all our attention was on the weather reports. Soon we had a major Thunder and Lightning storm, but felt relieved when the tornado warning was lifted. Soon after, we heard a huge lightning strike, it sounded like no other. It wasn't until a few hours later that we learned it had hit the Hood smokestack about 6 p. m.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt when the strike put a 40-foot gash in the old beloved 100-foot smokestack. For quite a few days, residents wondered if it could be saved or if it had to be taken down. From the photos below, you can see the Thorndike Factory Outlets is a very old and large complex, which was recently purchased in January by Sal Lupoli of Sal's Pizza fame. He, "plans to renovate the building into apartments and commercial space," per Lowell's The Sun newspaper, September 7, 2014.

For five days, I went to see the process of taking it down. Our first visit was early Sunday morning.
Photos taken Sunday morning (above and below). The unusual building on the left used to be the jail*, then Keith Academy, and now has condos.

It took several days to make a decision to remove it and to get the equipment up and running. Fortunately, there is a large park across the street for viewers to watch and take photos.







Another visit, yes, it's all down.
Last visit, I saw this metal liner, and assumed it was inside the smokestack.
Rear view of the Hood Company complex, and across from the train station.
* Old City Jail, ca 1909.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- Jack Kerouac, Life and Times, Birth and Death

"There is A Lot to Like About Lowell" is the city slogan.
(See tab on right side called "Lowell Series" for many more articles about Lowell.)

Jack Kerouac  --  Life and Times, Birth and Death


Jack Kerouac
Birthplace, Lowell, Massachusetts
b. 1922

Jack Kerouac Memorial in Lowell, Massachusetts
Wikipedia has a huge write-up about Jack, who was born in Lowell 92 years ago, and is buried in Lowell (see below). 
In the spring, I hope to take better photos, before the trees are full.



Mill Girls and Immigrants Exhibit at the Visitor's Center (above) and the exhibit of personal belongings at the Boott Mills Boarding House (below).
These three displays were enclosed in Plexiglas.

The anniversary of his death is in a week, and this week there will be many tourists coming to Lowell, some making their annual pilgrimage to the city in celebration of Jack's life.

The photos below were taken the day after the new monument was installed on Sept. 30th, and I took these the following day. 
"The Road is Life"
May 22, 1922     PFC Sebastian Sampas    March 2, 1944
Massachusetts 51 Station Hospital, World War II

1910      Vee Kay Sampas Eisentraug     1975
1909     Harold C. Eisentraut     1977
1888     George K. Sampas     1961
1893     Maria C. Sampas     1981
March 12, 1922     John Louis Kerouac     October 21, 1969
November 11, 1918     Stella Sampas Kerouac     February 10, 1990   
 Directions to Jack's marker at Edson Cemetery
Lowell, Massachusetts


http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=91

Kerouac Writes First Novel on March 23, 1948 (as described by Mass Moments article) First paragraph, "Lowell native Jack Kerouac happily noted in his diary that he had written 2500 words. If he could keep up this pace, he would finish his first novel in a matter of weeks. The highly autobiographical The Town and the City was published in 1950, the same year he began writing On the Road, the novel that earned him the title "Father of the Beat Generation." By the time he died at the age of 47 Jack Kerouac had published 14 books. On the Road is Kerouac's most-read work today; it is widely considered one of the most important and influential American novels of the twentieth century, and Jack Kerouac is celebrated as one of Lowell's favorite sons." Please read the rest of the article for more information.

Additional Blogs:

Jack Kerouac Was a Man Who Loved Cats, See The Proof