Kirk Street Agents House

1846

Building History

This Greek Revival-styled structure was constructed jointly by the Boott Cotton Mills and Massachusetts Cotton Mills in 1846 to house their respective agents.  It is a double-house built of brick with brownstone trim set on a high granite basement.  The parapet-linked double chimneys at the end walls and at the center of the roof, along with the building’s basic form, is similar to contemporary boardinghouses built for mill workers.  However, the use of brownstone for the building’s sills, lintels, and doorways distinguishes it.

James Rand, a local architect, designed the house and Linus Child and Homer Bartlett, the agents of the Boott and Massachusetts companies, respectively, were the first occupants.  In 1848, a freshman Congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, was a house guest here while in Lowell to speak at City Hall (today’s Old City Hall on Merrimack Street).

Agents lived in the house until 1901 when both the Boott and Massachusetts corporations sold the residences to Saiman Sirk for rental housing.  After several private owners in the early 1900s, the property was sold to the City of Lowell in 1914.  Uses subsequent to agents’ housing include boarding house, YWCA, school offices, medical clinic, and classrooms.

Preservation and Reuse

In 1979, the building was acquired by the National Park Service as part of the development of Lowell National Historical Park.  In the 1990s, the building was rehabilitated to serve as the Park’s headquarters, retaining much of the original interior splendor including fireplace mantles, stairways, decorative plaster, moldings, and doors.

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