In 1822, at the confluence of the Merrimack and Concord Rivers, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company was incorporated and a textile mill constructed.  Soon the pastures and farmland along the river banks yielded many other mills.  By 1840 the City of Lowell had over 25,000 residents.  Cotton manufacturing thrived.  The mills' founders and agents were seen as benefactors who provided a moral, religious, and educational environment for the mill workers.

     Along with all the benefits of a thriving planned industrial city came the realities of high land values and rapid loss of open space.  Mayor Elisha Huntington stressed the need for breathing room in an address to the city, where residents were being "hemmed in by brick" and "No Trespassing" signs.

     This brochure, a companion to the exhibit, A Garden of Graves: Views of Lowell Cemetery, will look at the development of this magnificent rural cemetery and its role in the quest to preserve open space for the citizens of Lowell.