The Agawam Diner is an historic diner at 166 Newburyport Turnpike (

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...

) in

Rowley, Massachusetts Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,161 at the 2020 census. Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley. History The area was inhabited by the Agawam people under sachem Ma ...

. Manufactured in 1954, it was moved to this location in 1970 after first being located in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. It is the town's only diner, and one of only six in the state manufactured by the

Fodero Dining Car Company 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 ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1999.

Description

The Agawam Diner stands in the area of Rowley known as Kent's Corner, on a lot of 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.

History

The Galanis family opened a diner on this site in 1947, in a structure manufactured by the

Worcester Lunch Car Company Worcester Lunch Car Company was a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1906 to 1957. History In 1906 Philip H. Duprey and Grenville Stoddard established the Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company, whic ...

. It was one of three locations operated by the Galanises; the others were in

(opened 1940) and Peabody. In 1954, the Galanises purchased two diners from the

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

. One was placed at Ipswich, replacing a Worcester diner which 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. The diner is named for a local Indian tribe.The Diner
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References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Commercial buildings completed in 1954 Restaurants on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Essex County, Massachusetts Rowley, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Essex County, Massachusetts Diners in Massachusetts Diners on the National Register of Historic Places Restaurants established in 1940 National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts U.S. Route 1

Description

History

See also

References