The Path

Standing at the honeycomb Path sign outside the Everett Mill, you’ll meet your guide, Janet. She’ll introduce you to the city and to Catherine and Ellen Hannon, two sisters who were working in the Pemberton Mill when it collapsed in 1860.

Start at the massive Everett Mill to imagine how it must have felt for rural immigrants like Catherine and Ellen Hannon to move to a new country and settle in an industrial hive.

Go up the elevator and explore the third floor of the Everett Mill. Imagine it filled with workers and heavy machinery. Compare this floor layout to the one that existed in the Pemberton Mill.

Across the street at the Lawrence History Center you’ll hear how the city was started from scratch by the Essex Company. And you’ll begin to see how good intentions paved the way to unintended consequences.

Go down Union Street to the Pemberton Mill where you can hear what happened to Catherine and Ellen Hannon as disaster struck.

Walk to the south end of the bridge to see the building that served as a temporary morgue in the wake of the disaster.

Down Canal Street and inside the Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitor’s Center you can see an original piece of the faulty column that led to the destruction of the old Pemberton Mill.