In 1636, when the Puritans settled this area - then known as "Agawam Plantation" the West Common was largely a wetland capable of supporting crops. A vast swamp called "Muxy Meadow" was located where the common narrows at its western-end. This swamp extended to the Agawam River and occupied both sides of what is now Park Street.
A narrow highway was built across "Muxy Meadow", but early attempts failed to drain the swamp and increase the width of the right-of-way to 330 feet to match the width of the East Common. By the time the swampland was eventually reduced, homes and outbuildings had been built on the higher ground on what was technically public property, meaning the occupants owned the structures but not the land on which they stood.
Following the Revolutionary War, the town decided to sell some of the "Highway land" to the people whose houses were built there. Park Street and the West Common then began to look as we see them today.
The south side of Park Street was used as farmland until the early 1900’s and remnants of "Muxy Meadow", along the west-side of Van Deene Avenue, existed until the 1950’s.
At the wider east-end of the Common is the town’s Vietnam War Memorial. The black granite used in our monument was taken from the same quarry in India as the stone used for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The striking effect of the light gray highlights that are produced when the polished black stone is engraved make the granite highly prized for such memorials.