Coburn Park

Once Forgotten Corner is Now an Oasis of Green

At the corner of Chelmsford and Stevens Street is a small city-owned park that beautifies this busy intersection.

Visit the park and you’ll be able to see the last piece of what was once the large Coburn Homestead and Dairy Farm. Now, as you look out across the intersection, you’ll see the large CrossPoint business towers.  Spring and summer flowers bring vibrant color to the corner, inviting you to explore what many thought was just a backyard, rather than a public park.

Mr. Alfred H. Coburn had a different vision for the corner.  Mr. Coburn was one of the last local, direct descendants (ninth generation) of Edward Colbourne, who arrived from England to Boston and Ipswich in 1635.  His step great-great grandmother, Gratia Ann Parker, had donated the land for the park to the City of Lowell in 1907 and it seemed to be forgotten.

So in 2005 Mr. Coburn approached the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust to help him improve this corner.  He recognized that city resources were slim for capital improvement projects like this, but he wanted to brighten up this corner park with a more inviting design that also recognized the important history of his family as early settlers.

On June 23, 2006, Coburn Park was rededicated through the generosity of many partners. The Trust worked with Alfred H. Coburn, the City of Lowell’s Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Greater Lowell Community Foundation to update the park.

At the rededication, Mr. Coburn said,

“I like to think of Gratia Ann Parker as a woman ahead of her time as she donated the land for what we now call ‘Open Space.’ Perhaps she was a true environmentalist as the term is known today.”

A monument, unveiled at the rededication and pictured below, was created from a drawing Mr. Coburn had of the family homestead.

We thank Damarius Goldston for this video which captures the beauty of this small corner of Lowell.

Thanks to Mr. Coburn’s generosity, the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust has an endowment for the park’s care at the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. This fund provides annual income to help care for landscaping and other park needs, above and beyond basic city maintenance.

Donations to the Alfred H. and Kathryn E. Coburn Endowment are welcome and would enable us to respond to additional needs at the park.  Help us carry forward Mr. Coburn’s legacy so that future generations can enjoy the park and learn about the area’s history.