Incorporated in 1826 to serve as a mill town , Lowell was named after Francis Cabot Lowell , a local figure in the Industrial Revolution . The city became known as the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution , due to a large series of textile mills and factories . Many of the Lowell 's historic manufacturing sites were later preserved by the National Park Service to create Lowell National Historical Park . During the Cambodian genocide , the city took in an influx of refugees , leading to a Cambodia Town and America 's second-largest Cambodian-American population
Cambodian genocide
Cambodian genocide
Lowell, Massachusetts