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The Estate of Jack Kerouac has confirmed that the scroll manuscript for On the Road will be housed and publicly displayed in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Jack Kerouac Center following its purchase by Zach Bryan at auction for $12.1 million.
During Christy’s Jim Irsay auction earlier this month, Bryan also purchased the scroll manuscript for The Dharma Bums, along with a collection of Kerouac’s personal letters to his friend Ed White, all of which will also go on display.
The Jack Kerouac Center, currently under construction, will be housed in the Saint Jean Baptiste Church building in the author’s hometown of Lowell. The church, where Kerouac once served as an altar boy and where mourners gathered for his 1969 funeral mass, was purchased by Bryan in 2025 to be converted into a museum. Upon completion, The Jack Kerouac Center will include a 1,500-cap room for music and storytelling, a recording studio, classrooms, and more.
“This is about bringing Jack home,” said Sylvia Cunha, Director of Marketing & Business Development for the Jack Kerouac Estate, in a statement. ” Zach understood the importance of this auction and how special these items were. It was never about collecting items, but about preserving something important, celebrating Jack Kerouac’s work and legacy. Zach is the right steward for this, and we’re incredibly grateful.”
Bryan recently just off his massive “With Heaven on Tour,” which features more than 40 stadium dates across the US and Europe throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Look for tickets here.
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