Town file
Agawam, Massachusetts
Agawam, Massachusetts (Hampden County, Massachusetts) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 513, "Music Box Murder" (25 July 2024). Lisa Ziegert was born on 24 March 1968 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and spent most of her life in the Agawam area.
- Town
- Agawam
- County
- Hampden County
- State
- Massachusetts
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 513
- Approximate location
- 42.064, -72.653
Episode 513 / 25 July 2024 / 172 min / full
Music Box Murder
"Agawam is in kind of southern ... right near the Connecticut border on the south in like western Massachusetts ... about 10 minutes to Springfield." about 0:05:07
The case: Murder of Lisa Ziegert (April 15, 1992). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2024
- Population
- 28,715
- Median age
- 46 and a half
- Median household income
- $78,619
- Median home value
- $309,500
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $1,300 a month
- Cost of living
- 96
- Property crime
- ▼ about one-third below
- Violent crime
- ▼ about half
History, in brief
- The original town site was bought from the tribe that held the land for ten coats, ten hoes, ten hatchets, ten knives and ten fathoms of wampum. about 0:06:20
- Agawam and West Springfield were originally one place and split apart in 1800. about 0:07:45
- A horse racing track was built, and Seabiscuit won the Springfield Handicap there in record time in October 1935. about 0:08:12
- The racetrack operated until betting was outlawed by a referendum in November 1938, and then it closed. about 0:08:24
- Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's tutor, was from here. about 0:08:40
The reviews read out
4 stars
"Such a homey town; growing up in a small town shapes you, you make your own fun with long drives or trips to Walmart or Target, and the people are mostly very nice except when politics comes up on the Agawam Forum on Facebook."about 0:09:26
3 stars
"The reviewer is not sure the town has animal control; when a possum showed up on their porch the police came, put it in the backyard and shot it in front of the family, then left it for them to dispose of."about 0:10:57
2 stars
"Kids are exposed to drinking and alcohol, and parents should be stepping in the way more to prevent it."about 0:12:32
1 star
"The mayor has been in office too long and is a jerk; many businesses have closed, and there are too many houses and residents but not enough jobs."about 0:12:56
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Chicopee, Massachusetts8.9 miles
- Ellington, Connecticut15 miles
- Simsbury, Connecticut16 miles
- Northampton, Massachusetts18 miles
- Stafford, Connecticut19 miles
- Barkhamsted, Connecticut19 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.