Pawtucket Falls

waterfall, Lowell, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, United States

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July 20, 2026

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Pawtucket Falls is a waterfall located in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The falls are on the Merrimack River and have a drop of 32 feet (10 meters). This significant waterpower was crucial for the development of Lowell as the first planned industrial town in the U.S.. In the early 19th century, the falls, along with a canal system, powered numerous cotton textile mills. The city of Lowell was named after Francis Cabot Lowell, a pioneer in the textile industry. The falls are a key feature of the Lowell National Historical Park, which commemorates the early American textile mills.1

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Lowell
…of waterpower from the Merrimack’s Pawtucket Falls (32 feet [10 metres]) and the completion of the Middlesex Canal link to Boston in 1803. By 1824 the locality was crisscrossed by a canal system that served numerous cotton textile mills along the Merrimack River. The community was incorporated as a town…
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…of waterpower from the Merrimack’s Pawtucket Falls (32 feet [10 metres]) and the completion of the Middlesex Canal link to Boston in 1803. By 1824 the locality was crisscrossed by a canal system that served numerous cotton textile mills along the Merrimack River. The community was incorporated as a town…
Read More