Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Agawam Town

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Capt. Charles Leonard House, Agawam MAPhoto: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0
A−History
History · Agawam Town

Agawam Town dates to 1636, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #203 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 115 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.

1636founded
6on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Agawam Town’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Agawam Town began

When was Agawam Town founded?

1636

Agawam Town dates its founding to 1636 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 1,698 in 18602020 census: 28,692390 years

How historic is Agawam Town?

A−

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Agawam Town’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Agawam Town is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #203 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Agawam Town’s overall grade.
Founding era1636, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194011.0% of homes (±2.4) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register6 listings, 123 historic buildings, 43.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 83%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 28%

Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Agawam Town’s 43.1 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 123 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1636.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Agawam Town’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Older than the countryEstablished in 1636, 140 years before the Declaration of Independence.A historic districtThe Agawam Center Historic District takes in 115 historic buildings.On the map since 18867 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1970. Watch Agawam Town change.Lost villages9 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Agawam Town, 1636 to 1987

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1636
    FoundingAgawam Town is established
  3. 1647In the archiveNathaniel Ward, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America (4th ed, 1647, title page)
  4. 19th century
  5. 1805BuiltCapt. Charles Leonard House is built
  6. 1807Post officeThe Feeding Hills post office opens
  7. 1815Post officeThe Agawam post office opens
  8. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1905In the archiveOld Landmarks, Agawam Mass
  11. 1921Born hereFrank Rosso is born here
  12. 1930In the archiveKiddieland, at Riverside Park, Agawam, Mass (78426)
  13. 1952Born hereCarl Beane is born here
  14. 1980Born hereDoug Janik is born here
  15. 1987Born hereAnthony Clark is born here
On the National Register

6 listings protect 123 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
123
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Capt. Charles Leonard House
Capt. Charles Leonard House, built 1805Purchase-Ferre HouseAgawam Center Historic DistrictThomas and Esther Smith HouseSchool Street BarnHampden County Training School
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Georgian3
Federal1
Greek Revival1
Gothic Revival1
Capt. Charles Leonard HouseBuilt 1805
Purchase-Ferre HouseGeorgian
Agawam Center Historic DistrictGeorgian
Thomas and Esther Smith HouseGeorgian
School Street BarnBuilding
Hampden County Training SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

On the map

Agawam Town on the map, 1886 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Agawam Town. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Agawam Town on the 1886 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1893 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1920 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1933 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1944 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1958 USGS mapAgawam Town on the 1970 USGS map1886Springfield sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Agawam Town.

The story

How Agawam Town came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Agawam Town.

Read it all →

On May 15, 1636, William Pynchon purchased land on both sides of the Connecticut River from the local Pocomtuc Indians known as Agawam, which included present-day Springfield, Chicopee, Longmeadow, and West Springfield, Massachusetts. The purchase price for the Agawam portion was 10 coats, 10 hoes, 10 hatchets, 10 knives, and 10 fathoms of wampum. Agawam and West Springfield separated from Springfield to become the parish of West Springfield in 1757; Agawam and West Springfield split in 1800. Agawam incorporated as a town on May 17, 1855.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Agawam Town, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1640s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1640s1 item
Nathaniel Ward, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America (4th ed, 1647, title page)1647Nathaniel Ward, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in Ameri…Document
1900s–1930s6 items
Old Landmarks, Agawam Mass1905Old Landmarks, Agawam MassStreetcar in Agawam Center 1924 postcard1907–1915Streetcar in Agawam Center 1924 postcardPostcardKiddieland, at Riverside Park, Agawam, Mass (78426)c. 1930Kiddieland, at Riverside Park, Agawam, Mass (78426)Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer. Oct. 1937 (a) ext- General View. - Tobacco Barn, 66…1937Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Land Utilization Town of Agawam - DPLA - fc06d0391b1af52581494c001ebf88971939Land Utilization Town of Agawam - DPLA - fc06d0391b1a…Roads and Buildings Town of Agawam - DPLA - ceb26c26b8a3e09b5a01bb4f9b75b9c11939Roads and Buildings Town of Agawam - DPLA - ceb26c26b…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Untitled photo2010Untitled photoUtopia Food Store2009Utopia Food StoreSimple Plan in2007Simple Plan inProvin Mountain2007Provin Mountain
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Old Landmarks, Agawam Mass
Retake this viewOld Landmarks, Agawam Mass, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Agawam Town’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Agawam Town, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00019001950200028,692

Grew from 1,698 people in 1860 to 28,692 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Agawam Town’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Agawam Town

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Doug JanikAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1980
A
Anthony ClarkAmerican bicycle racer · b. 1987
F
Frank RossoAmerican baseball player · b. 1921
Carl BeaneBoston Red Sox announcer · b. 1952
Mike MartinAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1982
E
Edwin LeonardAmerican Civil War Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1823
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Feeding Hills
1807–today
Agawam
1815–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AgawamFeeding HillsHubbard CornerJohnson CornerNorth AgawamO'Briens CornerShea CornerSuffield CornerWest Agawam
Gone or out of use
Lumber Jack Fieldairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Agawam Town
Agawam CenterMassachusetts Veterans' MemorialOld North

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Agawam Town’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOld Landmarks, Agawam Mass: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

West Springfield Town2 historic placesASpringfield92 historic placesA+Southwick1 historic placeA−Longmeadow2 historic placesA+Westfield14 historic placesA+

Questions about Agawam Town’s history

What year was Agawam Town founded?

In 1636, according to Wikidata. Agawam Town’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1860 counted 1,698 people here.

How does Agawam Town rank for history?

Agawam Town is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #203 of 283 in Massachusetts. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Agawam Town?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Capt. Charles Leonard House (listed 1975, the first), and 1 historic district, the Agawam Center Historic District, with 115 contributing buildings. 123 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Agawam Town?

11% of Agawam Town’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1970.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.