Boott Cotton Mills
Coordinates: 42°38′54″N 71°18′30″W / 42.6482°N 71.3084°W The Boott Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts were a part of an extensive group of cotton mills, built in 1835 alongside a power canal system in this important cotton town. Their founder was Kirk Boott, one of the early mill leaders in Lowell. Today, the Boott Mills complex is the most intact in Lowell and is part of Lowell National Historical Park. It houses the Boott Cotton Mills Museum.
Lowell is 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-west of Boston on the Merrimack River. Lowell was blessed with a river system that provided a 9 metres (30 ft) drop over a distance of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), suitable to provide 7,460 kilowatts (10,000 hp). Water had been diverted through canals and locks to enable navigation, and by a simple diversion the overflow could be used to power waterwheels.
Kirk Boott worked for the company responsible for the Merrimack Canal the first power canal in Lowell, which was already driving other mills, and built his mills in 1835- staffing them using the Waltham-Lowell system. Running off of hydropower, the original operation consisted of four gable-roofed brick mill buildings. Eventually, floors were added, giving them flat roofs, the buildings were connected by stair towers and clock towers, and other buildings were added to the complex as well. Steam power and electric power were eventually introduced.
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