Agawam has a wealth of history with interesting and impactful stories that we are proud to share. Explore the large collection of town-related artifacts at the Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum and see how our town has evolved through the centuries from an early farming community to the home of businesses, industries, and attractions to become the town we know today.
The Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum is located at 35 Elm Street in Agawam, Massachusetts.
Please see our Events Page for open dates and times.
The museum is also open by appointment.
Please contact us for more information.
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, which included an addition to house a chairlift to the second floor.
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.
Chief Russell “Rusty” Jenks Apparatus Room
Russell “Rusty” Jenks joined the Agawam Fire Department in December 1954, and worked out of Station No. 3 on Elm Street. Rusty was appointed deputy chief in 1972, acting chief in 1981, and permanent chief in 1985, serving in that position until his retirement in 1993.
Rusty was an active member of the Agawam Historical Association, a longtime member of its board of directors, and instrumental in establishing the Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum in the Elm Street Station after it was decommissioned in 1994.
The first floor apparatus room of the museum was dedicated in his honor on 27 May, 2002.
Marilyn P. CurrY History Room
Marilyn Curry joined the Agawam Historical Association shortly after moving to Feeding Hills in 1964, and between 1967 and 2016, served 20 terms as its president, presiding over two of the association’s most significant achievements: the opening of the Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum, and the purchase of the c. 1757 Thomas Smith House on North West Street, both of which occurred in 2002.
Marilyn was instrumental in the formation of the Agawam Historical Commission in 1979 and served as its chair for more than a dozen years. She was chair of the History Book Committee which commissioned the first comprehensive history of the town, Edith LaFrancis’ landmark “AGAWAM, Massachusetts A Town History,” which was published in 1980.
Among her long service to the town, Marilyn was also a member of the Agawam (U.S.) Bicentennial Commission, the Agawam Sesquicentennial Committee, and a longtime trustee of the Captain Charles Leonard House.
After her death in 2021, the Agawam Historical Association renamed its annual scholarship in her honor.
The second floor of the Agawam Historical & Fire House Museum was dedicated as the Marilyn P. Curry History Room on 26 May 2025.
