Agawam is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Grady County, Oklahoma
Grady County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,795. Its county seat is Chickasha. It was named for Henry W. Grady, an editor of the ''Atlanta Constitution'' and southern orator. .
Geography
Agawam is located adjacent to
US Highway 81
U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Sta ...
, near the junction with County Road 1490.
History
Agawam was founded around 1909, when its
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
was built.
Agawam was named after a Native American village in
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. The community was located on the main line of the Rock Island Railroad.
On 19 October 1915, two
Rock Island Railroad
The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At ...
trains collided head-on here, a southbound passenger train and a northbound freight train, resulting in seven fatalities and numerous injuries; engineer William Powell was blamed for the accident.
The Agawam post office closed in 1918.
In October 1922, it was announced that Agawam, located on the main line of the Rock Island Railroad, would become a shipping point for a gas field in Grady County, due to its location: four miles from the Oklahoma Gas Company's pumping station.
[ ] Agawam was described as a "new oil town" in 1923, when an auction of town lots was held.
A
gym
A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...
nasium was completed in 1935. In 1955, Agawam had a grade school with a "small enrollment", but it was large enough to field a very good girls' basketball team that, over the course of three years, had amassed 90 wins against four losses, despite usually only having seven players.
[ ]
See also
*
Acme, Oklahoma
Acme is a ghost town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. It had a post office from April 8, 1913, to May 29, 1931.
The former community was west of the present community of Rush Springs.
References
External links
Agawam on GhostTowns.com
{{Grady County, Oklahoma
Populated places established in 1909
1909 establishments in Oklahoma
Ghost towns in Oklahoma