Agawam Center Historic District

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.