Photo courtesy of the UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History, Lowell Housing Authority Collection, Lowell Historical Society

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Banker & Tradesman is highlighting significant moments in the history of Massachusetts’ real estate and banking industries. To suggest a topic, email editorial@thewarrengroup.com.

What: Urban renewal begins in Lowell
When: March 1959
Where: Church Street, Lowell

Following the decline of the textile mill industry in the mid-20th century, the city of Lowell turned to urban renewal to revive its economy. 

Work began in March 1959 on the Church Street project, the first to use the city’s powers of eminent domain to reshape a neighborhood. 

In the following years, hundreds of properties were taken by eminent domain and thousands of residents were displaced in slum clearance projects. Demolished mill properties were converted into parking lots to accommodate growing automobile traffic from highway projects such as Route 3, the Lowell Connector and Interstate 495.

“Most housing built in the heart of Lowell was crowded, built for immigration groups that worked in the mills. By the 1950s most of these neighborhoods were classified as slums, by the city of Lowell, and in need of desperate repair. This hindered the economic growth and value of businesses in downtown Lowell.” 

— “Urban Renewal in Lowell, Massachusetts 1955-1972” by Daniel McDermott, environmental historian and National Park Service ranger