Agawam, Massachusetts

The Town of Agawam is a city Officially called "The city of, the town of Agawam" in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,144 at the 2000 census. It is the home of the Six Flags New England amusement park, which is a part of the Six Flags corporation.

Name

The name, in the dialect of the Pequakits or Pequawkets, is from the adverb, agwe, "beneath", made into a noun with an -um formative suffix: "(land) beneath (water)", with reference to marshes. The Pequakits, originally a tribe of the Abenaki, migrated to the Connecticut River after the battle of Fryeburg, Maine, their ancestral home. In 1725 the tribe was attacked there by a colonial force under Captain John Lovewell with heavy losses on both sides. Not long after, the tribe decided that a move was expedient.

Geography

Agawam is located at (42.071961, -72.644097). The city borders West Springfield, Massachusetts to the north, Southwick, Massachusetts to the west, Longmeadow, Massachusetts to the east, and Suffield, Connecticut to the south. Westfield, Massachusetts also borders to the north and also west.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.8 km² (24.2 mi²). 60.2 km² (23.2 mi²) of it is land and 2.6 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (4.09%) is water.

Agawam's ZIP code of 01001 is the lowest number in the United States. Agawam has a subsection, Feeding Hills. Feeding Hills runs along the border of Southwick and Westfield, Massachusetts, and Suffield, Connecticut. Its border with Agawam is mainly determined by Line Street, and it has a ZIP code of 01030.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,144 people, 11,260 households, and 7,465 families residing in the city. The population density was 467.6/km² (1,210.9/mi²). There were 11,659 housing units at an average density of 193.7/km² (501.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.71% White, 0.91% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.83% of the population.

There were 11,260 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,390, and the median income for a family was $59,088. Males had a median income of $40,924 versus $30,428 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,562. About 4.3% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

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