Lowell National Historical Park Quarter

The Lowell National Historical Park was established in 1978 to preserve the role of Lowell, Massachusetts, in the Industrial Revolution. Lowell was an important part of American history in the 19th century. The textile mills built in Lowell used advanced technology to build more efficient mills, hired young, healthy women to work in the mills, and marked the beginning of industrial transformation in the United States.

The coin shows a female worker, called a mill girl, who made up of the majority of the Lowell Mill workforce. Mill girls became an important voice for labor by advocating for better working conditions, supporting abolition, and embracing education.

The chimney represents the changing source of power from waterwheels and turbines to steam engines. The clock and bell tower of the Boott Mill demonstrates the shift from pre-industrial time based on rhythms of the natural world to “on the clock” time of the Industrial Revolution.