This engraving by J.W. and Edmund Barber in 1839 shows the confluence of the Concord with the Merrimack River, looking south from the hills of what was then Dracut.
What aspects of agrarian land use and economy are present? What aspects of industrialization does it portray? How does the engraving represent the relationship between traditional rural life and modern urban industrial change?
Citation:
Barber, Edmund L. East View of Lowell, Mass. 1839. Wood engraving made from a drawing by J. W. Barber. University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA.
Teaching Unit:
Water Power, Industrial Manufacturing, and Environmental Transformation in 19th-Century New England