The Lowell Museum, located in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, was founded by

Moses Kimball Moses Kimball (October 24, 1809 – February 21, 1895) was a US politician and showman. Kimball was a close associate of P. T. Barnum, and public-spirited citizen of Boston, Massachusetts. Biography Kimball was descended from Richard and Urs ...

in 1840, as an art exhibit hall and entertainment venue.

History

The Lowell Museum was housed on the upper floors of a building on Merrimack Street at the head of Central Street owned by Lowell's U.S. Postmaster, Fisher Ames Hildreth, and the theatre venue of the museum was managed by N. F. Gates. A bayonet accidentally wounded an actor called Wheeler above the eye during one of the performances on the evening of May 26, 1853, killing him instantly in front of a packed audience. In the mid-1850s, local artist Alfred Ordway was commissioned to paint portraits of all the presidents to adorn the museum. He finished in late 1855, only to lose them all in the fire. According to the January 31, 1856

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

article, The Lowell Museum was destroyed by fire, at a loss of $15,000, which was partially insured. The fire destroyed the museum, several of the stores beneath it, including; C.W. Pratt dry goods, the Abel Whitney bookstore, R.B. Randall & Co. clothing store, and the Law Library of

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is ...

next door. The "Boston Nationals" who were performing in the museum's theatre managed by N.F. Gates, lost all of their costumes and belongings.

Notable Exhibits

*April 1843; featured: Mr. Harrington of Boston "The original, well-known, and justly celebrated

Ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

, and Professor of Ledgerdemain". The advertisement in the

Lowell Courier Lowell may refer to: Places United States * Lowell, Arkansas * Lowell, California * Lowell, Florida * Lowell, Idaho * Lowell, Indiana * Lowell, Bartholomew County, Indiana * Lowell, Maine * Lowell, Massachusetts ** Lowell National Histo ...

promised: "Laughable, Comical, Quisical, Mysterious, Magical, Wonderful, Astonishing Experiments of Ventriloquism, Imitations, etc, etc, etc." Tickets admitting two persons were 25 cents and the performance began at 8 PM. *May 1843; "The Conflagration of Moscow" was staged at the Lowell Museum as a sound and light show depicting with cannon fire and military music the burning of the city by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in 1812. *July 1843; Kip Darling performed at the Lowell Museum *December 1848, Miss Eliza Eberle, Dancer, first performance at Lowell MuseumChronology of the American stage, from 1752 to 1852 By Francis Courtney Wemyss *From 1850-51, Mr. John Howe frequently played at the Lowell Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Museum, Lowell Buildings and structures in Lowell, Massachusetts Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Education in Lowell, Massachusetts