Research Library
The printed books and city records we read most closely: 17 works in 137 volumes, from the first Lowell directory of 1832, through a century of the city’s annual reports, to the histories of Lowell written between 1868 and 1920.
Each one is a public scan at the Internet Archive, and the house keeps a copy of the text so that it can be searched again and again without burdening the archive. We do not host the books here: every link opens the volume on the Internet Archive. Where a book backs one of our numbered research notes, the note is linked beside it.
Histories of Lowell
Illustrated history of Lowell
Cowley, Charles, 1868 · No known restrictions (Library of Congress)
Illustrated History of Lowell and Vicinity, Massachusetts
Courier-Citizen Company, 1897 · Public domain (published before 1931)
History of Lowell and Its People
Frederick William Coburn, 1920 · Public domain
At the Internet Archive: vol. 1 · vol. 1 (copy 2) · vol. 2 · vol. 2 (copy 2) · vol. 2 (copy 3) · vol. 3 · vol. 3 (copy 2) · vol. 3 (copy 3) · scan 1 · scan 2 · scan 3 · scan 4 · scan 5
Biographical dictionaries and memoirs
One of a thousand
Rand, John C., b. 1842, 1890 · Public domain (published before 1931)
Bench and bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Davis, William T., 1895 · Public domain
Memoirs of the judiciary and the bar of New England for the nineteenth century
Reno, Conrad; Jones, Leonard A., 1900 · Public domain
At the Internet Archive: vol. 1 · vol. 2
Research notes: C-014
Biographical history of the manufacturers and business men of Rhode Island, at the opening of the twentieth century
Hall, Joseph Davis, 1901 · Public domain (published before 1931)
Harvard College Class of 1886 secretary's report, Issue 6
Harvard College. Class of 1886, 1907 · Public domain
Research notes: C-017
Biographical history of Massachusetts
Eliot, Samuel A., 1913-18 · Public domain
Woman's who's who of America
Leonard, John William, 1914 · Public domain (published before 1931)
Massachusetts Law Quarterly 1930-05
1930-05 · Public domain (published before 1931)
The Old Residents’ Historical Association
Contributions of the old residents' historical association, Lowell, Mass.
Old Residents' Historical Association of Lowell, 1873 · Public domain (published before 1931)
At the Internet Archive: vol. 1 · vol. 2 · vol. 3 · vol. 4 · vol. 5, no. 1 · vol. 5, no. 2 · vol. 6
Lowell city directories
The Lowell city directory
1832–1985 · Public domain (published before 1931); Rights not stated; read at the Internet Archive
At the Internet Archive: 1832 · 1833 · 1834 · 1835 · 1836 · 1836 (copy 2) · 1836 (copy 3) · 1838 · 1839 · 1840 · 1840 (copy 2) · 1847 · 1852 · 1855 · 1857 · 1858 · 1860 · 1864 · 1866 · 1868 · 1870 · 1875 · 1886 · 1894 · 1900 · 1906 · 1916 · 1926 · 1931 · 1936 · 1946 · 1950 · 1956 · 1966 · 1975 · 1985
Lowell city documents
City Documents of the City of Lowell (annual reports)
1864–1928 · Public domain (published before 1931)
At the Internet Archive: 1864 · 1865 · 1866–1867 · 1867–1868 · 1868–1869 · 1870–1871 · 1871–1872 · 1872–1873 · 1873–1874 · 1874–1875 · 1875–1876 · 1877–1878 · 1878–1879 · 1879–1880 · 1880–1881 · 1881–1882 · 1882–1883 · 1883–1884 · 1884–1885 · 1885–1886 · 1886–1887 · 1887–1888 · 1888–1889 · 1889–1890 · 1890–1891 · 1891–1892 · 1892–1893 · 1893–1894 · 1896–1897 · 1897–1898 · 1898–1899 · 1899–1900 · 1900–1901 · 1901–1902 · 1902–1903 · 1903–1904 · 1904–1905 · 1905–1906 · 1906–1907 · 1907–1908 · 1908–1909 · 1909–1910 · 1910–1911 · 1911 · 1912–1913 · 1913–1914 · 1917–1918 · 1918–1919 · 1919–1920 · 1920–1921 · 1921–1922 · 1922–1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1927–1928
Maps
1896 Atlas Of Surveys City Of Lowell
1896 · CC BY-ND 4.0