{"nrhp_refnum":"01000670","name":"Agawam Center Historic District","other_names":["Main and Elm Streets Historic District"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"24-196 Elm St.; 551-1008 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Agawam","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.066669712500044,"lon":-72.6174996867996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-06-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A primarily residential historic district in Agawam, Hampden County, Massachusetts, along Main Street (Route 159) and Elm Street, with commercial and institutional buildings mixed in. It includes 115 contributing buildings, mostly from the late 18th to 19th centuries.","why_significant":"The district is noted for the high quality and unusually high survival rate of its Federal-style architecture, which compares with better-known Connecticut River Valley towns. It also reflects the town's development through agriculture (including tobacco), mill industry, and community institutions. The Captain Charles Leonard House within it is individually listed and is considered the town's finest Federal building.","narrative":"Agawam Center is a tree-lined residential district on the west bank of the Connecticut River valley, arranged along Main Street (Route 159) and Elm Street, which crosses it at the center. Houses are mixed with commercial, religious, school and cemetery uses. The earliest surviving building is the Bliss Tavern, a Georgian house of about 1750. The district's strength lies in its Federal architecture, ranging from modest Cape-form cottages to high-style houses with Palladian windows, fanlights and carved detail. The Captain Charles and Mercy Leonard House of 1805 is the finest, attributed to Asher Benjamin's handbook designs and listed individually. Later Greek Revival alterations and mid-19th-century houses show continued growth. The district also reflects local history: a woolen mill that became the Agawam Company, a growing tobacco and dairy farming economy, and the town's incorporation in 1855. Its high survival rate of Federal buildings sets it apart from neighboring towns.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Asher Benjamin (attributed, Captain Charles and Mercy Leonard House)","architectural_style":"Colonial/Georgian; Early Republic-Federal; Mid 19th century/Greek Revival/Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Largely residential with commercial and institutional uses; many houses survive with later alterations such as porches, ells and replacement sash.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.602591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/7951/63795157/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/01000670.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000670/1c84be2ab7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000670/1c84be2ab7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A.F.D_No._3,_Agawam_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A.F.D_No._3,_Agawam_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795157","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agawam_Center_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4691629"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/agawam-center-historic-district-01000670/"}