Looking down Elm Street from Main Street in Agawam, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.
Elm Street in 2015:
Today’s view doesn’t have the same pastoral look that it had 120 years ago, but the two buildings from the 1890s photo are still standing today. On the far right is the Rufus Colton House, which was built in 1806 and is mentioned in more detail in the previous post. To the left is the First Baptist Church, which still exists but in a heavily modified form. Baptists had been meeting in Agawam since 1790, and the present church was built around 1830 on Main Street, just south of Elm Street and diagonally across from the Agawam Congregational Church. Substantial additions from the mid 20th century added wings on both sides and behind the original church, so not much is left from its original appearance except for the front entrance. Nonetheless, today it is a contributing property in the Agawam Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.