Happy 90th Birthday, Jack
This post doesn’t fit 100% with the theme of my blog, at least as far as I’m aware this particular spot in Lowell didn’t have a special significance to him, but what the heck, it’s his birthday as I’m writing this. R.I.P.
The Merrimack River seen from Moody Street Bridge
‘The town is Galloway. The Merrimack River, broad and placid, flows down to it from the New Hampshire hills, broken at the falls to make frothy havoc on the rocks, foaming on over ancient stone … (The opening lines of ‘The Town And The City’, Galloway is the name Jack Kerouac gave to his hometown … Continue reading
Pawtucketville Social Club
Jack’s father Leo used to run the Pawtucketville Social Club for a period in Jack’s youth. For more information about the club visit: http://ecommunity.uml.edu/francolowellma/socialclubs/pawtucketville.htm
Kerouac family home on Phebe Avenue, Lowell
The Kerouac family live in the pale blue house on the right (Nr.16) from 1932 to 1935 (Thanks to Dave Moore for providing the exact dates) The Kerouac home in 1932 (the building on the right of the photo) Phebe Avenue, looking northeast towards Dracut
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
The Merrimack River
The Merrimack River, as seen from the downtown side of Lowell and Bridge Street. It did capture Kerouac’s imagination (as it did with Henry David Thoreau before, who wrote his short story ‘A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers in 1949) throughout his life and especially as a kid. But it was also responsible … 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.
Retracing Jack Kerouac 