Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off
Snow Emergency - No Parking Ban has been lifted 1/7/2009
Document Actions
Belvidere
History and Location
Belvidere boasts some of the most distinctive homes in Lowell. Today's neighborhood is bounded by the Merrimack River on the north, the Concord on the west, South Lowell to the South and Tewksbury to the east. Belvidere, which in Italian, means "beautiful to behold" was named by Judge Edward Livermore in 1816, when he bought the 160-acre Gedney Farm; that was then annexed to Lowell in 1832. The development of Belvidere Hill (formerly Lynde Hill) began in earnest when John and Thomas Nesmith bought Livermore's estate north of Belvidere Village for $25,000. The Nesmiths hired Alexander Wadsworth of Boston to lay out the streets and house lots, including a trapezoidal park called Washington Square. Washington Square area is Lowell's earliest fashionable residential neighborhoods, as many of Lowell's affluent merchants and industrialists settled in Washington Park and Belvidere Hill. Washington Park and one of the first two major subdivisions in Lowell.
Belvidere is also home to the site of the 56-acre Shedd Playground, laid out on land donated to Lowell in 1916 by Freeman Ballard Shedd. He directed that the land be a playground, not a formal park. Abutting the Shedd Playground is the 30-acre Rogers Fort Hill Park, whose name derives from the 18th-century fort of local chieftain Wannalancit that stood atop the hill.
Demographics
- Population: 10,901 (Census 2000)
- Median Household Income: $48,555 (1999 Dollars)
Parks and Recreation:
- Alumni Field
- Cawley Park
- Fayette Street Playground
- Kitterage Park
- Knott Park
- Shedd Park
- Rogers Fort Hill Park
Historical Landmarks:
- Belvidere Hill Historic District
- Washington Square Historic District
- Andover Street Neighborhood District
- Rogers Fort Hill Park Neighborhood District
- Hoyt-Shedd Estate: 286-396 Andover Street, 1874; and 569 and 579 East Merrimack Street. ca. 1884.
- Worcester House, 658 Andover Street. 1802 and ca. 1840.
Neighborhood Groups:
- Belvidere Neighborhood Group. Meets every secondThursday of the month at the Sullivan Elementary School, 150 Draper Street, at 7:00 p.m. (excluding July and August).
- Friends of Shedd Park.
Projects:
-
Concord River Greenway