March 1, 1826, Lowell was incorporated as a town with a population of 2,500. Rapid development transforming the farmland of East Chelmsford had been ongoing for four years, resulting in the state legislature granting a petition establishing the new town, which comprised nearly 3,000 acres. Ten years later, in 1836, it became the City of Lowell.
This painting from 1825 by Benjamin Mather shows East Chelmsford the year before it became the Town of Lowell. The viewpoint is from where the Eliot Church now stands on Summer Street. St. Anne’s Church on Merrimack Street is visible in the center of the painting with the Merrimack mills behind it and to the left of St. Anne’s, Merrimack mill boardinghouses that once stood on Dutton Street along the Merrimack Canal. Kirk Boott’s mansion can be seen to the right, the present day location of the Boott millyard on John Street.
(Photo – The Industries of Lowell, 1895)