Early residents of the Chapel Hill neighborhood were primarily Protestant New Englanders that included skilled artisans, business owners and civic leaders. It was almost entirely a residential area with a mix of impressive estates, large single-family homes, two-family dwellings, and some smaller cottages.
The 1831 Hale map gives a good indication of the pattern of development as well as the location of the churches that prompted its nickname: the Universalist church off of Chapel Street, the Methodist Church on Central (near Hosford Square) and the Baptist Church on Church Street. The Baptist Church is the only one that remains today (in altered form).
The 1831 Hale map of Lowell. A=Baptist Church, B=Universalist Church, C=Methodist Church.
A more defined urban infrastructure soon emerged. Primary streets developed on a north-south axis: Chapel, Central and Lawrence Street (originally River Street) all ran parallel to Gorham; early important east-west streets included Tyler, Charles (originally George), Union and Elm. Central quickly became the “central” artery for the neighborhood linking it to downtown Lowell; over a dozen structures were erected by the mid-1830s, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied mixed-use streets in Back Central.
Scripture’s Bakery, 547 Central Street.
Three structures in particular serve as a good example of the type and quality of the architecture within a few blocks on Central: Scripture’s Bakery (c. 1826), the Locke House (1833), and the Abbott House (1848). All incorporate elements of the Federal or Greek Revival styles popular at the time, and the Locke House is a rare example in Lowell of a type known as a “brickender.”
The Lawrence-Wentworth House on Lawrence Street.
The Locke House, 557-61 Central Street, was built and occupied by Joseph Locke, a Harvard educated civic leader who served as the first judge of the police court in the city. Other prominent citizens also chose Chapel Hill for their homes and businesses. The impressive Greek Revival Lawrence-Wentworth House on the northern end of Lawrence Street (1831) was built by the second mayor of Lowell, Luther Lawrence; he sold the house in 1842 to Tappan Wentworth, a prominent lawyer and legislator (his wife was the niece of President Franklin Pierce). William Nichols made his fortune in the grocery business; his home at 11 Centre Street (1840) is an exceptional example of the Greek Revival; the house was later purchased by John Joseph Donovan, who served as mayor in 1883. The intriguing Federal-style stone house at 23 Ames Street. (c. 1826), served as the home of the wealthy Richmond family; they hosted the author Edgar Allan Poe in 1848-49. Tyler Street, originally running between and parallel to Church and Charles Streets (and perpendicular to the Lawrence-Wentworth House) was already known by the late 1840s for its fashionable homes.
Image from City Engineers is the office of A.C. Wheelock at 468 Central Street in 1916, City Engineers Collection, #0045-OG.
Residences for skilled laborers followed these stylistic precedents at a modified level: these included detached houses on ample lots made of brick, such as 41 Chapel Street of 1825, or more frequently double houses, such as 38-40 Union Street (1830s). The habit of combining a residence with a shop also emerged quickly—such as Scripture’s Bakery at 547 Central, 1-3 Centre Street, and 507 Central.