Lowell, a manufacturing city

Lowell, a manufacturing city of Massachusetts, the birthplace of Whistler, on the Merrimac River, and at the junction of several railways, 25 miles N. by W. of Boston. The site is uneven and hilly, and the river falls 33 feet, affording great hydraulic power, which is controlled by a chartered company. Steam-power, however, is now extensively used in the large mills and workshops. These, the principal of which are also in the hands of corporations, include a great number of cotton and woollen factories; 2,500,000 yards of cotton are produced here in a week. Among the other manufactures are leather, paper, and iron goods, chemicals, carriages, &c. Lowell was incorporated in 1826. The operatives were for years gathered from the rural districts fifty or a hundred miles round, and lived in boarding-houses built and owned by the corporations, and kept under strict management. Foreign emigration has brought a large resident manufacturing population. Evening and technical schools, reading-rooms, a free library, and lectureships are maintained, and unusual attention is paid to the well-being of the work-people. Pop. (1880) 59,485; (1890) 77,696.