Lowell City Hall
… ‘what’s that immemorious word you told me on the Square, not on the Square, right in front of City Hall, the other night,… (‘Maggie Cassidy’ p. 10 Penguin Classics edition)
Lowell Canals and Mills
…, past the canals, the mills, the eternity millstacks rising high in the all-open-blue-sky,… (‘Maggie Cassidy’)
Boott Mills & Canal
Open homeroom window in Lowell, rose morn and birds upon the Boott Mill Canal… (‘Maggie Cassidy’ p. 50 Penguin Classics Edition)
Moody Street, Lowell
A view down Moody Street, coming over the Textile Memorial Bridge, which was the way Kerouac most probably took when walking from the family’s various homes in Pawtucketville towards downtown Lowell. It’s also mentioned in a number of his books, mostly the ones dealing with his childhood, such as ‘Maggie Cassidy’ and ‘Vanity Of Dulouz’
University Avenue Shops
Nice to think of a teenage Kerouac having a bite to eat or going to buy stuff in of the shops that occupied these buildings in his time. University Avenue in Pawtucketville was on his way from the family’s various residences in the late 1930’s (and early 1940’s when Kerouac’s family moved back to Lowell … Continue reading
Textile Institute, Lowell
Kerouac wrote about the then ‘Lowell Textile Institute’, which is now part of the University of Massachusetts, in a number of his books, especially ‘Maggie Casssidy’ – no wonder, since he had to pass it on the way from the house on Phoebe Avenue the family lived in for some time, on the way to … Continue reading
Lupine Rd, Lowell, MA
Looking northwest, towards Dracut Looking southeast, towards Centralville Tree opposite the house Jack Kerouac was born in Entrance to Lupine Rd. from Fred St.
Entering Lowell / Entering Dracut
Kerouac’s home turf in the first few years of his life when the family lived in Centralville, the house he was born in on Lupine Rd is just a few streets away from where these photographs were taken.
The Cassidys
Like many on my blog, this is a highly speculative post. Both photos were taken from Chelmsford Street in south Lowell, but not in the part of Lowell that is actually called ‘South Lowell’. In the book Maggie Cassidy the Cassidys live at 31, Massachusetts Street, but that street doesn’t actually exist (at least not … Continue reading
Retracing Jack Kerouac 