Jerathmell Bowers House facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jerathmell Bowers House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	150 Wood St., Lowell, Massachusetts
Area	3 acres (1.2 ha) (since subdivided)
Built	early 19th century (early 19th century)
Architectural style	Colonial
NRHP reference No.	93001588
Added to NRHP	January 28, 1994

The Jerathmell Bowers House is a really old and important house located at 150 Wood Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was built a very long time ago, around 1673, making it the oldest known home in Lowell! Because of its historical value, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

What is the Jerathmell Bowers House?

The Jerathmell Bowers House stands in western Lowell. You can find it on the east side of Wood Street, just north of Westford Street. This house is a special part of Lowell's history. It's known as a "Cape style" house, which is a type of home common in New England. It has a sloped roof and a big brick chimney in the middle. The outside is covered with wooden boards called clapboards.

A Look Inside and Out

The house faces south, with its side facing Wood Street. It has five windows across the front, with the main door slightly off-center. On the left side of the main house, there's a sunroom that was added in the early 1800s. Other parts of the house, called "ells," extend to the right and back. These parts were built in the 1700s and 1800s.

Inside the main part of the house, you'll find a typical layout from the colonial era. It has four rooms around a central chimney. The front door opens into a small hallway. From there, a winding staircase leads up to the attic.

A House with a Long History

We don't know the exact date the first parts of the house were built. However, the way it's designed suggests it was built in the early 1800s. Jerathmell Bowers, who was from Cambridge, Massachusetts, bought the land in 1670 or 1671. At that time, this area was part of Chelmsford.

Jerathmell Bowers' son was born in Chelmsford in 1673. This suggests that at least some part of this house was already standing then. While some details don't look like a 1671 house, more study might show older parts. By the 1800s, the farm around the house was quite large, about 150 acres.

A Community Leader and a Safe Place

Jerathmell Bowers was an important person in his community. He served as a selectman, which is like a local leader. He also led the local militia, a group of citizen soldiers. He even ran a distillery on his property, making alcoholic drinks.

During the early colonial period, when Chelmsford was first settled, this house was very important. It was one of 19 "garrison houses." These were strong homes used as safe places for people to go during attacks by Native American tribes.

Saving a Piece of the Past

The area where the Jerathmell Bowers House stands became part of Lowell in the late 1820s. This happened as new mills were being built along the Merrimack River. The house stayed in the Bowers family for a very long time, at least until it was listed on the National Register in 1994.

In 2013, there was a plan to tear down the house. Developers wanted to build a new commercial building where the house stood. However, groups like the Lowell Heritage Partnership and the Lowell Historical Society worked hard to save it. They convinced everyone that the house was too important to lose.

Because of their efforts, the decision was made to save and protect the house. In November 2015, news came out that the developers of the nearby shopping center would start restoring the home in the spring of 2016. This means this historic house will continue to stand for many more years!