Welcome to Lowell

Welcome to Lowell. Where The Rivers Meet. The Lowell Area Historical Museum invites you to explore the history of Lowell. Look for interpretive boards throughout town. Learn about different events, people and places that have shaped this community., Imagine a landscape covered with forests and swamps, laced with creeks and rivers. A summer village of 400 Odawa Indians stands at the junction of the Flat and Grand Rivers. Wigwams are grouped south of the Grand River, farm fields stand at the location of today's fairgrounds. This was the landscape that the first settlers encountered when they arrived in the Lowell area on pole boats or by footpath. , Or, imagine frontier Lowell with wooden sidewalks and muddy roads. A sawmill hums along the river, busy making lumber out of the logs just floated into town from upriver. Farmers around the town are clearing the forests for their fields and building homes, schools and churches. , Picture Lowell, suffering at the height of the Great Depression. Local businessmen join together with an idea to bring people to their town. A Showboat is built, like the famous boats on the Mississippi River. The entertainment would be a huge success, drawing people to town every summer for over 60 years. , Enjoy exploring our community, and its past., Timeline , 1831 , Daniel Marsac built log trading post , 1844 , First bridge built over Flat River in Lowell , 1846-1847 , First frame house, grist mill and dam built , 1850 , Population 214 , 1853 , Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railroad arrived , 1860 , Population 1503 , 1870 , Logging era began, population 2576 , 1880 , Population 3037 , 1932 , Lowell Showboat began , 1959 , Lowell voted to become a city , 1996 , Downtown Historical District established, 1870 lithograph of Lowell showing businesses and houses in town at the time, This stereoscope picture is the oldest known image of Lowell, c. 1875. It looks east across the Flat River., Dansville Map This early map shows Lowell Township to the south, Vergennes Township to the north, and the village of Dansville. Daniel Marsac gave his land the name Dansville when he platted it for settlement. The community grew and in 1855 by common consent changed its name to Lowell.