Jack Kerouac Commemorative

Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell in 1922, and although On the Road made him famous for leaving places behind, he kept coming back to this one in his writing.

Five of his novels are rooted largely in Lowell: The Town and the City, Doctor Sax, Maggie Cassidy, Visions of Gerard and Vanity of Duluoz. He wrote about the neighborhoods where he grew up, Lowell High, the Merrimack River, his French-Canadian family and the churches, streets and people he knew as a kid.

The Jack Kerouac Commemorative puts some of those words back in the city that produced them. Eight granite columns stand in a small downtown park at Bridge and French streets, carved with passages from ten of his books.

What You’ll See

Dedicated in 1988, the Commemorative was designed by artist Ben Woitena, who arranged eight triangular granite columns around a paved path of crosses and circles.

The words are Kerouac’s, carved into the stone, while the layout reflects the Roman Catholic faith he grew up with and the Buddhism he explored later in life.

The park is only one piece of Kerouac’s Lowell. Pollard Memorial Library is still here, as is the Grotto that appears in Doctor Sax, and his grave is a few miles away at Edson Cemetery.

Good to Know

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac brings readers back each October for walking tours, readings, talks, music and other events around the city, including programs that begin at the Commemorative.

The festival dates change each year, so check the Fall Guide calendar for the current schedule.