Day 279: Cambodia Town,The Acre, Lowell, Massachusetts

📌APIA Every Day (279) - The Acre, one of Lowell’s earliest ethnic neighborhoods, is a historical reflection of the city’s evolving demographic patterns and its industrial past. Known for its vibrant melting pot of cultures, the neighborhood traces over 170 years of migration to Lowell, a city that was shaped by the rise of textile mill factories in the early 19th century. The Irish were among the first to settle in Lowell, drawn by job opportunities in the mills. They worked as laborers, particularly in the construction of urban infrastructure, and later as strikebreakers during labor unrest in the 1840s. As the Irish population grew, the Acre became primarily Irish by the late 19th century, but its demographic makeup began to change with the influx of other immigrant groups over the years.

In the 20th century, the Acre neighborhood experienced new waves of immigration. After World War II, immigrants from Latin America, including Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Colombians, arrived in Lowell to work in the textile industry, revitalizing the neighborhood with a new Latin heritage. Similarly, Southeast Asian refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam began settling in the Acre in the 1970s and 1980s, escaping the aftermath of war in Southeast Asia. The affordable rental prices in the Acre made it an attractive place to live, and many Southeast Asian refugees found work in Lowell's industrial or computer sectors. These communities quickly formed strong bonds, creating cultural institutions, religious organizations, and social services to support their new lives in America. Notable organizations such as the Angkor Dance Troupe and the Cambodian Mutual Aid Association (CMAA) became essential in empowering the Southeast Asian community and fostering a sense of community.

The City of Lowell has the second largest Cambodian diasporic population in the United States, after Long Beach, California. In 2010, the City of Lowell designated the presence of a Cambodia Town to honor the Cambodian community’s contributions to the city beginning in the 1980s. This recognition was specifically aimed to uplift the Cambodian community’s efforts in revitalizing Lowell neighborhoods that have been previously underinvested in and neglected by the local city council. In October 2011, community volunteers established a Cambodia Town Committee that collaborates with the City and various community organizations to collectively advance visions of an economically, culturally vibrant, and prosperous Cambodia Town on the East Coast. As Southeast Asian refugee communities like Cambodian Americans in Lowell have settled in the past forty years, we reflect on whether and how historic preservation practices are prepared to recognize these neighborhoods as significant narratives of America’s historic landscapes. 

Written by Billy Zeng

LEARN MORE:

National Park Service: The Acre - Lowell National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

UMass Lowell: Cambodian American History in Lowell 

UMass Lowell: Southeast Asian Digital Archive Oral History Project, 2019-Ongoing 

UMass Lowell Library: Immigration Stories: The World Comes to Lowell: Cambodia

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