Agawam Diner

Last updated
Agawam Diner
Agawamdiner.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location166 Newburyport Tpk.,
Rowley, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°42′17″N70°54′37″W / 42.70472°N 70.91028°W / 42.70472; -70.91028
Built1954 (1954)
ArchitectFodero Dining Car Company
MPS Diners of Massachusetts MPS
NRHP reference No. 99001124 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 22, 1999

The Agawam Diner is an historic diner at 166 Newburyport Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) in Rowley, Massachusetts. It was manufactured in 1954 and moved to this location in 1970 after first being in Ipswich. It is the town's only diner and one of only six in the state manufactured by the Fodero Dining Car Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. [1]

Contents

Description

The Agawam Diner stands in the area of Rowley known as Kent's Corner, on a lot of 0.75 acres (0.30 ha) at the southwest corner of Newburyport Turnpike and Haverhill Street (Massachusetts Route 133). It is a single-story building, six bays wide and seven deep. Its exterior is finished with a combination of horizontal and vertical metal banding and has rounded corners. At the center of its main facade is a projecting entry vestibule with entrances at the sides. The stairs leading to the entrances are sheltered by removable canvas awnings. The interior is divided roughly in half, the front half housing the dining and service area and the rear the kitchen. The dining area includes booths along the front wall and stools at the counter separating the dining and service areas. [2]

History

The Galanis family opened a diner on this site in 1947, in a structure manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company. It was one of three locations operated by the Galanises; the others were in Ipswich (opened 1940) and Peabody. In 1954, the Galanises purchased two diners from the Fodero Dining Car Company of Bloomfield, New Jersey. One was placed at Ipswich, replacing a Worcester diner the family sold, and the other was placed in Peabody. The Peabody diner closed in 1960, and the Ipswich one in 1970. The Galanises then opted to sell the diner at Rowley and moved the Ipswich diner to its location. [2]

The diner is named for a local Indian tribe. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essex County, Massachusetts</span> County in Massachusetts, United States

Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the state, and the seventy-eighth-most populous in the country. It is part of the Greater Boston area. The largest city in Essex County is Lynn. The county was named after the English county of Essex. It has two traditional county seats: Salem and Lawrence. Prior to the dissolution of the county government in 1999, Salem had jurisdiction over the Southern Essex District, and Lawrence had jurisdiction over the Northern Essex District, but currently these cities do not function as seats of government. However, the county and the districts remain as administrative regions recognized by various governmental agencies, which gathered vital statistics or disposed of judicial case loads under these geographic subdivisions, and are required to keep the records based on them. The county has been designated the Essex National Heritage Area by the National Park Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbury, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,716 at the 2020 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town, Plum Island and Byfield. Each village is a precinct with its own voting district, various town offices, and business center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipswich, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A residential community with a vibrant tourism industry, the town is famous for its clams, celebrated annually at the Ipswich Chowderfest, and for Crane Beach, a barrier beach near the Crane estate. Ipswich was incorporated as a town in 1634.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowley, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,161 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diner</span> Type of casual restaurant

A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a combination of booths served by a waitstaff and a long sit-down counter with direct service, in the smallest simply by a cook. Many diners have extended hours, and some along highways and areas with significant shift work stay open for 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Shore (Massachusetts)</span> Region of Massachusetts in the United States

The North Shore is a region in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, loosely defined as the sea coast between Boston and New Hampshire. Its counterpart is the South Shore region extending south and east of Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fodero Dining Car Company</span>

The Fodero Dining Car Company (1933–1981) was a diner manufacturer located in Newark and later Bloomfield, New Jersey. It was founded by Italian immigrant Joseph Fodero, who formed the company after constructing diners with P. J. Tierney Sons and Kullman Industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Route 133</span> East-west state highway in Massachusetts, US

Route 133 is a 40.87-mile-long (65.77 km) east–west Massachusetts state route that runs from Route 38 and Route 110 in Lowell to Route 127 in Gloucester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newburyport station</span> Railway station in Newburyport, MA

Newburyport station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Newburyport, Massachusetts. It is located between Parker Street and U.S. Route 1 south of downtown Newburyport, and serves the Newburyport/Rockport Line. The station is the terminus of the Newburyport Branch of the line, with three parking lots totalling over 800 spaces. The Clipper City Rail Trail, running along the former right-of-way, connects the station to the town center. Newburyport station is fully accessible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Moon Diner</span> United States historic place

The Blue Moon Diner, originally the Miss Toy Town Diner, is a historic diner in Gardner, Massachusetts. Built in 1949, it is well-preserved example of a late-model barrel-roofed diner manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company. It has been located at its present location since 1954. The diner was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Florence Diner</span> United States historic place

The Miss Florence Diner is a historic diner at 99 Main Street in the Florence section of Northampton, Massachusetts. It was manufactured in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and is one of four diners in the city. At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it had been owned by the same family since its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann's Diner</span> United States historic place

Ann's Diner is a historic diner at 11 Bridge Road in Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulevard Diner</span> United States historic place

The Boulevard Diner is a historic diner at 155 Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built by Worcester Lunch Car Company in 1936 as #730. It is a well-preserved instance of a barrel-roof diner that the company made in significant numbers in the years before the Second World War, and the city's best-preserved 1930s diner. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corner Lunch</span> United States historic place

The Corner Lunch Diner is a historic diner at 133 Lamartine Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1955 and moved to Worcester in 1968, it is the largest diner in the city, and a rare example in New England of remodeling work done by the Musi Dining Car Company of Carteret, New Jersey. It was built by DeRaffele Diners of New Rochelle, New York, and first installed in Babylon, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Worcester Diner</span> United States historic place

The Miss Worcester Diner or Worcester Lunch Car # 812 is a historic diner at 302 Southbridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1948 by Worcester Lunch Car Company and is located across the street from the company's Worcester factory. While independently owned and operated, it was used by the Lunch Car Company as a "showroom" diner, and a testbed for new features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chadwick Square Diner</span> United States historic place

The Chadwick Square Diner or Worcester Lunch Car Company Diner #660 or Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner is an historic diner at 95 Prescott Street (rear) in Worcester, Massachusetts. Although the building faces Grove Street, it is attached to one of the 19th century Washburn and Moen Works buildings which fronts on Prescott Street. The diner is a rare early version of a streetcar-inspired design, and may be the only one of its type in the state. It is 40 feet (12 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) deep, with twelve window bays. It has a monitor-style roof with clerestory windows, and entrances at the ends under roof overhangs. The northern entrance now serves as an emergency exit, while the south entrance now serves as the main entrance to the nightclub in the attached building. The interior is exceptionally well-preserved, retaining many of its original finishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcester Lunch Car Company</span>

Worcester Lunch Car Company was a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1906 to 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Bellows Falls Diner</span> United States historic place

Miss Bellows Falls Diner is a historic diner at 90 Rockingham Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The diner was constructed in 1941 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #771, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silk City Diners</span>

Silk City Diners was a division of the Paterson Wagon Company, later known at Paterson Vehicle Company, established by Everett Abbott Cooper and based in Paterson, New Jersey, which produced about 1,500 diners from 1926 until 1966. Each was tagged with the year and order in which it was built; for example, 5607 would be the seventh diner manufactured in 1956. Several have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Agawam Diner". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  3. The Diner