Visited: Saturday, May 26th, 2012
After not getting to an NPS site this winter, it was nice to start to get back into the swing with our first visit to the Lowell National Historical Park. And it's an interesting park - the visitor center isn't particularly important, though - if you have limited time, the Boott Cotton Mill. The earplugs aren't really optional - they run the looms, and it gets _loud_. But it's impressive - and the boys were fascinated to hear about the jobs children would typically do in the factory.
In addition, they had a DIckens display - I hadn't realized that Dickens had traveled extensively through the United States. And I only vaguely remembered than Kerouac was from Lowell; since I do need to read On The Road, I picked it up. But nothing really topped the working looms; at the gift store, they sell dish cloths made at the mill there.
Maybe I haven't been to enough Historical Parks, but I thought the visitor center well done. But I agree, the centerpiece is the display of working looms. I remember there being a discussion back when this part was created that it was all a boondoggle to benefit Lowell on behalf of Senator Tsongas, but as a look into the Industrial Revolution (an important piece of American history!) I thought it was fascinating.
ReplyDeleteDidn't mean to imply that the visitor center wasn't well done - it's just not the centerpiece of the site, as it sometimes is. It's comparable to the Adams visitor center - it's quite nicely put together, but fairly basic, and it's not what really tells the story of the site.
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