 Within a decade the population jumped from 2,500 to 18,000, and on April 1, 1836, the town of Lowell officially received a charter as a city, granted by the Massachusetts General Court.Lowell was only the third Massachusetts community to be granted city government, after Boston and Salem.The population at the time was 17,633, and soon, a court, jail, hospital, cemetery, library, and two town commons were established.