Pioneer History by Richard C. Schmal
History at Lowell Library Web-Site
(from the September 27, 2005, Lowell Tribune, page 14)- "It is one of the best library web sites I have ever seen!" That was the message in an email received by the Old Timer a few months ago. The writer, who was researching his family history, was very excited about having found the interesting Lowell Public Library Web site.
The site begins with links to the Lowell Photo Album, Biographies, and the Pioneer History stories from the Lowell Tribune and other Pilcher Publishing Company papers. The Photo Album features hundreds of images of people, places, events and groups, with an index for finding names. Another alphabetical index lists all the names in the biographies, many of them linked to other stories. An alphabetical menu for names in the Pioneer History stories is shown, followed by "Contents," which lists all the monthly columns since January 1980.
Historical topics on the library site are shown alphabetically beginning with "Churches" with stories about the early places of worship from 1837 to the year 1870, when three churches were built in the Town of Lowell.
"Crime and Criminals" is listed next, with tales of the Bogus Island horse thieves, bootleggers, murders in earlier years and escaped criminals in Lowell in 2000.
"Disasters and Tragedies" features stories about local townspeople who were killed in the Chicago Iroquois Theatre fire and includes the ice and snow-storm here in 1998. Under "Doctors" stories of pioneer doctors are included, with stories about pioneer Jabez Clark, Dr. Bacon and other medical men up to 1869.
The "Fire Department" topic tells about the first organization, the first fire truck and more early information about our local volunteer fire department.
Under "Fires"-- stories include that of the big Lowell fire of 1898, the 1952 train wreck, the Livery Stable Antique Mall fire and more.
The "Geography" paragraph shows the longitude, latitude, and the elevation of our community.
"Houses" -- Some of the pioneer homes from 1835 to 1850 are mentioned.
"Libraries" -- Tells the story of our first library and offers a link to view the history of the Lowell Public Library and its branches.
Under "Monuments" is listed the three monuments erected in honor of those who served in the wars from 1812 to the Persian Gulf War.
"Museums" tells the story about a museum that was in the basement of the Lowell Library (old Carnegie) from 1933 to 1944.
The "Parks" topic tells some of the early history of our town's parks.
"Newspapers" -- Lists some of the early newspapers including the Lowell Star of 1872, the Lowell Tribune of 1885, and the Lowell Souvenir of the early 1900's.
The "Nostalgia" topic lists many exciting newspaper highlights from 1872 to 1952, and reveals a long list of familiar names and places .
Under "People, Places and Things" many of the "firsts"are listed: the first blacksmith, first doctor, first general store and more.
"Population" -- This part of the site features statistics for the numbers of people from 1850 to the year 2000. (Lowell's population was listed as 1235 in 1910, 7505 in 2000)
"Railroads" -- Includes history of the first railroad through the Town of Lowell, the 1952 train wreck and a list of newspaper stories about our local railway.
"School" history includes early schools from 1852 to 1965, with a link to a very interesting story about the history of Lowell High School written by Cecil A. Grayson, former principal. Some school photos are also included .
"Settlers from 1835 to 1845" includes stories of the early families who pioneered in the Lowell area, and a historical "Time Line" showing important events down through our years of history.
"Veterans, Wars" -- Wars from 1812 to 1991 are listed with links to names of the veterans of each war, and dozens of the names linked to biographies, photos or stories.
The Lowell Public Library web site is a wonderful tool for students of local history, genealogy, and many other important statistics, and it is the Old Timer's plea that all of our local school teachers and students are made aware of the interesting web site, newcomers and old timers alike. It has been the Old Timer's great pleasure and special privilege to cooperate with the skilled and competent members of the library staff for so many decades.
"Often people e-mail questions about persons, events and places found on the site. But just as often people e-mail us to share local old time photographs and information that will be of interest to people researching local genealogy," states Reference Librarian Darlene Rigg. Having the Pioneer History column on our library website is exciting because it is such a marvelous research tool. I receive several favorable comments each year from people across the country who have accessed the site."
The web site can be found at http://www.lowellpl.lib.in.us/
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