Lowell, Vermont, New England USA
About Lowell, Vermont
Orleans County
Chartered: February 7, 1791 (Vermont Charter)
Area: 36,083 Acres = 56.38 Square Miles [ Size Rank: 17* ]
Coordinates (Geographic Center): N 44° 48′ W 72°27′
Altitude: 996 feet ASL
Population (US Census, 2010): 879 [ Population Rank: 188* ]
Population Density (persons per square mile): 15.6 [ Density Rank: 219* ]
Full Census Info: Town County State
*Area, Population and Density rankings refer to Lowell’s relative position among Vermont’s 255 civic entities (9 cities, 242 towns, 4 gores and grants). Complete rankings are here.
Chartered to New York lawyer John Kelly and named Kellyvale. It was one of four grants totaling more than 69,000 acres given to Kelly in restitution for an equal amount of land he had held under New York Patents, which had been invalidated by the 1790 settlement between New York and Vermont. In 1825, another of Kelly’s grants (a 6,000 acre tract just east of Kellyvale) was added to the town, making it considerably larger than its neighbors.
In 1831 the name was changed to Lowell. Some say that the new name derived from Lowell, Massachusetts, because many of the people who settled in Kellyvale had come from that area. However, that town had been named Lowell only five years before the Vermont towns’ name change (long after the settlers arrived), honoring Francis Cabot Lowell, the initiator of large-scale cotton textile manufacturing in the US. Vermont’s town is more likely to honor the manufacturer’s father or his brother:
John Lowell Sr., a distinguished Massachusetts jurist, had represented the Commonwealth in the Continental Congress for many years. He was a member of the commission that had settled the Vermont-Massachusetts boundary dispute in Vermont’s favor. In 1781, Lowell and some associates had petitioned Vermont for a grant in the area of present-day Morgan and Charleston. There is no record of any action taken, but it is hard to believe that the state would have entirely overlooked his efforts on its behalf.
John Jr. was also a prominent lawyer and a keen historian, with a reputation as a Federalist writer. His pamphlet entitled Mr. Madison’s War, criticizing the War of 1812, would have endeared him to Vermonters, with whom the war was extremely unpopular.
Activities & Points of Interest
Goings-on in and near Lowell
Calendar of Events provided by the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing.
Orleans County Historical Society
Contact Info
Emergency Services (Statewide): 911
Hospital: North Country Hospital & Health Care (Newport) 802-334-7331
Town Clerk: Nanette Bonneau 2170 VT RTE 100 Lowell, VT 05847
802-744-6559
M Th 9-2:30
Churches, Ministries, Charitables
Roman Catholic : St. Ignatius
Schools
North Country Supervisory Union 802-334-5847
Lowell Village School 802-744-6641
Neighboring Towns
This is a basic geographic reference, intended to show relative location of adjacent towns. Directional accuracy is limited to 16 compass points. There isn’t even the slightest suggestion that one can necessarily travel directly from one town to the next (as in “You can’t get there from here”).
Lowell
Utilities
Notes about utilities:
- One electric or phone company indicates that company serves the entire town. More than one of either indicates each serves different areas of town.
- A listed cable company MIGHT mean the entire town is covered, but not necessarily. More than one listed indicates each serves different areas of town.
- Unless your area is one served by Vermont’s only gas utility, your only option is bottled gas (any dealer).
Cable Comcast 800-266-2278
Electric Vermont Electric Co-op 800-832-2667
Telephone Fairpoint 866-984-2001
