Lawrence, Massachusetts is a city of 72,000 in the Merrimack Valley, about 30 miles north of Boston and a little ways downriver from Lowell. It was a major wool producing center, but has seen very hard times pretty much since the depression. Lawrence has always attracted immigrants to it's mills, and today the population is estimated at 68% hispanic, mostly Dominicans and Puerto Ricans.
City Hall, on Campagnone Common
Common St.
Essex Street in the main drag in Lawrence. There were people out and about, but they didn't look like they wanted to be photographed.
Jackson St.
I wish I had the fortitude to do a tour of the residential neighborhoods of Lawrence. It is a very dense, urban city, but a rough one, too. 34% poverty rate.
Here are some of the huge mills along the river and canal. We'll get to those.
The city was also a hotbed of abolitionists. Lawrence, Kansas was founded by people from Lawrence, MA.
In 1860 the Pemberton Mill collapsed, killing 88 people.
Apparently the white brick buildings are generally more administrative, while the red ones are more manufacturing oriented.
Clocktower of the Ayer Mill in the distance.
I'm curious about the square footage of industrial space in this city. These things are absolutely huge, and there's a lot of them.
The canal
The base of a smokestack. These things were tall enough to warrant blinking lights on top.
It seemed at least one had been turned into lofts, while some of the others were empty or home to a variety of industrial uses.
The Lower Pacific Mills
This is Ken. He works in the laundry and was on break. He saw me taking photos and asked if I had a minute and wanted to hear the history of the place. Turns out he was quite a history buff, and is the source for alot of my facts on the mills. He was going on all about the Bread and Roses strike of 1912 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act...
He also gave me one of his peanut butter crackers.
Sometimes you just run into the right people.
It was getting dark, and I was starting to get unfriendly looks from motorists.
The Merrimack River from the Joseph W Casey Bridge
Some blurry pics of Essex Street while heading back to the car
Up next: Haverhill, Mass., the Shoe City.
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Those old warehouses have a story to tell. Right now, the only thing those they're good for is converting them into lofts and the demand isn't there.
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