Bowles Agawam Airport
{{Infobox airport
| name = Bowles Agawam Airport
| image =
| image-width = 250
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| operator = Private
| location = Agawam, Massachusetts
| built = 1927-1930
| used = May 1930-1934
1944-1981
| commander =
| occupants = Private
| elevation-f = 192
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| coordinates = {{coord|42|3|19.45|N|72|39|21.85|W|type:airport|display=inline}}
| website =
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| r1-length-f = 1000
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Bowles Agawam Airport was an airfield operational in the mid-20th century in Agawam, Massachusetts.{{cite web|title=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Western Massachusetts |url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_W.htm#bowles |publisher=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields |access-date=29 December 2013 |date=14 September 2013 }}
History
In 1927 Robert Hall founded The Springfield Aircraft Co. at the airport. He designed several racing aircraft there that went on to national races.{{cite web | url=https://hallbulldog.com/about/the-original-bulldog/ | title=The Original Bulldog | date=4 August 2021 }}
May 29, 1930, and June 1, 1931, saw "grand openings" of Bowles Agawam Airport with the latter date including a visit from 100 biplanes of the United States Army Air Corps Eastern Air Arm.Freeman, Paul (24 December 2014).[https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_W.htm#bowles "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Western Massachusetts, Bowles Agawam Airfield"] Accessed 11 June 2015.
A scheduled air service operated out of Bowles for approximately one year, before ending.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
The airport also had plans in the early 1960s to become a commercial airport and host airlines for the city of Springfield, but plans were shelved. The airport and racetrack were demolished in the late 1980s and the area is now an industrial park.Agawam Centennial Committee (June 1955). Agawam, Massachusetts Over the Span of a Century. Agawam Centennial Committee. pp. 9–11. Airlines now serve Springfield through Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
=Horse racing track=
Agawam Park, a pari-mutuel horse racing track, including grandstand and stables, was built adjacent to Bowles Airport. Seabiscuit won the Springfield Handicap at Agawam in track record time in October 1935.[http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/seabiscuit.html "Seabiscuit, 1938 Horse of the Year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217012903/http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/seabiscuit.html |date=2007-02-17 }}. www.spiletta.com. Accessed 11 June 2015. The racetrack operated until pari-mutuel betting was outlawed by referendum in Hampden County in November 1938.
References
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{{MA Airport}}
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Category:Defunct airports in Massachusetts