More Before and After Lowell, MA changes Pt. 3. Photos taken in 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

 

West End Gym, 850 Lawrence Street,  May 2016.

This is a huge mill and the photo was taken of the front left side.

The below photo was taken in December 2021.

For those who don't know, "The Fighter" movie was nominated for 7 Academy Awards in 2011. Most of it was filmed in Lowell. The two half brothers, Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, both trained here.

I was recently asked where this gym was now, my reply is, I happened to discover it this morning when I was roaming around where Prince Spaghetti used to be. I used to know Arthur Ramalho, of the gym,   New gym is on 50 Newhall St.  Photo is below. 

50 Newhall St., Lowell, MA.

The building is now the Watershed Apartments.

Front of building (above and below).

Back of building (above and below). Note the smokestack was removed.

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Merrimack St. and John St. Above photo taken April 2016. The location is now the Purple Carrot Bread Company restaurant that serves excellent food.

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Above, these keys and the area are just feet away from the National Visitors Center. The above photos were taken in 2014. When I saw them many years ago, you could touch them. Last month, I saw they were under lock and key.

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Big changes in the backyard of 219 Jackson Street.

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Athenian Corner Restaurant, Market Street.

I've always loved this wall, it shows its age and character. Below, somebody thought this would be an improvement.

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At Pawtucket St. and Father Morissette Blvd.

The Pawtucket Street going up to Merrimack Street.

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The Concord River, flowing into the Merrimack River. The Lowell Auditorium is on the right. The photo was taken in April 2016. The one below was taken in December 2021.

Below are additional photos of where the West End Gym was on Lawrence Street.

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The Card Says it All, and a Quick Message to my Genealogy and Lowell Readers

 

I sent this card to several of my friends and thought my genealogy and Lowell readers would like to see this as well. Best wishes go out to you all.

Going into the third year of the Pandemic has to be better than 2020 and 2021.

Regarding my posts, I did no blogging in 2020 (because of my husband's death) but started up this year with 22 genealogy posts from April to September. Then I switched gears and began with my Lowell posts, those amount to 33 from October to December.

There are two interesting things. My post statistics on my blog are done by Google and I am able to see my top 10 posts (or more) and how many hits they receive. Seven are about Lowell, the other 3 are genealogy-related, but that just changed. Previously, it was even. The fourth most popular one is a genealogy one, very short but popular. 

The Librarian's Guide to Genealogical Research -- Examples 

For Lowell, the link below had 2,600+ thanks to the donuts! posts https://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-stroll-along-westford-street-lowell.html

The post about Lowell High was extremely popular for quite a few years, and I reposted it this fall. There were a huge number of comments, maybe 90, and it appeared every person had memorable high school days, except one!

Regarding my Lowell readers, you pushed my hits to over a million in no time flat, I got over 15,000 hits for two months straight. So a huge Thank You to Lowell reads who are near and far.

I try to keep up with genealogy and I subscribe to several sites. I can't wait for April 1st and see my first 1950 census...I'll be in it, in California.

Since I'm a wordy person,  I want to thank all the Lowell administrators who post my blog to their sites, and to every genealogy peep who reads my posts. I'll try to be more active on Facebook. I didn't delete anybody, so that means I consider you a friend. Happy New Year to everybody, and please stay healthy.

Lowell, MA photos in the Last Weeks in December 2021 and 2014.

Ron, owner at RRRecords, Central Street. Several years ago, he bought quite a few records from my husband and me. Mostly early rock, which I now wish I hadn't gotten rid of. When I stopped in recently, he said he remembered that day.

I've walked Central Sreet many times and never realized there was a Dry Cleaners here.

St. Joseph, The Worker Shrine 1965

37 Lee Street. See below.

John Cox, a reader left me this informative message. "St. Joseph Church became St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in 1965. But the church was opened in 1861 by Fr. Andre Garin, OMI. The present worship space was added onto the original former Protestant church which Fr. Garin purchased, in order to serve people working in the mills."

Bridge Street above. 

I took a walker over the bridge, mostly to show you the parking area near CAP.

Bridge St., Centralville district. CVS is on the left and Dunkin Donuts on the right.

From the bridge, you can see the trail along the river, garden area with parking.

Jack Kerouac Park (NPS link)

Old fire station, now a restaurant, and various businesses.

Palmer Street and Middle Street.

Kennedy's Butter and Eggs

Merrimack Street.

(This store used to have butter, eggs, milk, and other groceries. But no more, it is mainly a convenience store, as shown below. Back in the mid-60s, I used to shop there a lot, since I live a few blocks away.)

The above and two below were taken on Dec. 26, 2014.

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Putting the Ayer Lion memorial stone to sleep for winter.

The seven photos below were taken in December 2021. These are located downtown. What do we think, what do tourists think. I hope somebody is going to ........