1700s

Image Credit: Lowell Historical Society

Beginning in the late 1600s, Chelmsford farmers settled in much of the present area of Lowell which was in the eastern part of the town.  The settlement was primarily agricultural although small industries such as saw, grist, and woolen mills made use of the falls on both the Merrimack and Concord rivers.  Investors build the Pawtucket Canal between 1792-96 that allows goods coming down the Merrimack River heading to Newburyport to bypass the Pawtucket Falls.  By 1820, the area the area is home to about 200 people living on scattered farms and at the crossings of a few roads.