FROM FIRE STATION TO
HISTORICAL MUSEUM

Agawam Fire Department Station No. 3 on Elm Street in Agawam Center was constructed in 1918 as the first building in town built specifically to house motorized firefighting apparatus.

The contractor, Amos C. Gosselin, resided at 31 Maple Street, Agawam, and in addition to being “engaged in the building construction business,” served the town as tax collector, constable, water commissioner, lamplighter, election officer, and assessor.

Gosselin’s tools and tool chest have generously been on loan to the Agawam Historical Association by his family, and have been on display at the museum for many years.

The 1918 Annual Report of the Town of Agawam noted the station had been completed, and “not only provides for the needs of the department, but serves the public with a convenient place for social and business gatherings.” In 1921, rental of the “Agawam Fire Department Hall” brought in $137.

In 1953, the Agawam First Baptist Church paid to have the station moved 186 feet west, to its present location, so that the church could build an addition.

With the 1996 dedication of the new Agawam Fire Department Headquarters around the corner on Main Street, the Elm Street Station was decommissioned and made available to the Agawam Historical Association by the town for use as a historical museum.

Local residents, businesses, and organizations contributed more than $50,000 to aid the Association’s efforts to prepare the building for use as the Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum.

After six years of fundraising, construction, and renovation, a grand opening and dedication was held on Memorial Day, 2002.

The first floor apparatus bay is home to a collection of Agawam Fire Department helmets, antique fire equipment, and an International fire truck owned by the town since it was purchased in 1930.

The second floor is home to the Association's large collection of town related artifacts, and documents, including original documents pertaining to the incorporation of the town, and a pair of pre- and post-incorporation 1855 wall maps.

The station’s second-floor day room and kitchen have been restored to look as they might have when the station was built. The gas stove in the kitchen is not original to the building, but a prop from the movie The Cider House Rules that was purchased for display in the museum.