Fun Facts - Lowell.org

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famous L & former residents
Charles Herbert Allen
Walker Lewis
Governor of Puerto Rico
African American
Abolitionist
Benjamin Butler
Civil War General,
Governor of Massachusetts,
and Presidential Candidate
Richard M. Linnehan
Michael Chiklis
Entertainer
Actor
Bette Davis
Actress
Olympia Dukakis
Actress
James B. Francis
Pioneer Engineer
Jack Kerouac
NASA Astronaut
Ed McMahon
Paul Tsongas
Congressman,
US Senator and Democratic
Presidential Candidate
Micky Ward
Boxer
James McNeill Whistler
Artist
Writer
Hoyt Vandenberg
Ted Leonsis
Air Force General and
Chief of Staff, CIA Director
Founder American
Online (AOL)
Designed by Selbert Perkins Design
This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National
Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.
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Jack Kerouac lived in three neighborhoods in
Lowell: Centralville, Pawtucketville, and the Highlands.
He never lived in Little Canada, even though he was
French-Canadian.
Bette Davis, born in Lowell on April 5, 1908, went on
to be the first person nominated for 10 Academy Awards
—winning Best Actress twice—was the first woman to
receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American
Film Institute, and was the first female president of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
By 1850, less than 50 years after their establishment,
the mills in Lowell were annually producing enough
cloth to encircle the earth twice!
Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone
in 1876, but the first city to use telephone numbers
was Lowell in 1880!
The 5.6 miles of hand-dug canals in Lowell
channeled the Merrimack River’s 32-foot drop to Lowell’s
mills providing power for the mill machinery in the
19th century.
Located at 77 Knapp Avenue, The Lowell Cemetery is
the 4th oldest garden cemetery in the United States, dating
back to the 1840’s.
The soft drink Moxie® was invented as a medicine
in Lowell in 1876 and claimed to cure ills such as paralysis.
The first CVS ® was established in Downtown Lowell in
1963. Today, the company does about $25 billion in sales
in over 5,000 stores in America—and it all started as a
“Consumer Value Store”on Merrimack Street in Lowell.
Lowell’s downtown is part of the Lowell National
Historical Park, established in 1979 as the first urban
National Park in the country.
The Jack Kerouac Commemorative on Bridge Street
includes excerpts from ten Kerouac books, including
The Town and the City, based on Lowell, and reportedly
features more words by an author than any other literary
monument in the country.
Death Cab for Cutie’s song, “Lowell, MA,” features
lines about the city and was featured on their album
We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (2000).
Lowell is home to the first ever National Human
Dog Sled Race which takes place every February
during Winterfest.