Lowell Locks and Canals Historic District

Lowell's canal system, built between 1793 and 1848, forms a district of about 100 acres along roughly five miles of waterways. It includes the Pawtucket Canal, the Northern Canal, the Pawtucket Dam, locks, gatehouses, millyards such as Suffolk, Boott, Hamilton and Lawrence, and three workers' boarding houses. The canals began as a navigation route around Pawtucket Falls, opened in 1796, then were expanded to carry water power to textile mills. Each new canal was built to solve the problem of supplying every mill with enough power, and the Northern Canal finally balanced the flow. The nomination holds that this work, led by engineers including James Francis and George Whistler, drew international attention. It also points to the corporate boarding house system as a widely studied social model. Lowell's population grew from about 200 in 1822 to over 33,000 in 1850. After textile companies moved south, many buildings emptied and deteriorated, and state and federal efforts to restore the area were beginning.