Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, features a mid-1970s photo of the junction of Elm and Enfield streets, showing a number of different items including three long-gone businesses.

Most prominent is the Laurel House Furniture store at 878 Enfield Street, which now sits on the corner of Enfield and North Main streets. This picture is believed to have been taken prior to the reconfiguration of that intersection, which formerly ran directly in front of Town Hall, and before the construction of the Enfield Town Green.

Laurel House operated at that location for many years, from the late 1950s until 1997. A small business, the Savvy Shopper, did business there for several years, then became Homestead Broyhill until 2007. The building is currently owned by the Troiano family and is virtually vacant, though it does serve as distribution headquarters each December for the Enfield Police Department's annual Toys For Joy drive.

Just south of the Laurel House was Connecticut Bank and Trust, noted for having the area's first automated teller machine, known as "Barney." The bank has undergone several name changes since then, and is currently Bank of America.

The Gale Lincoln-Mercury dealership on the southeast corner of Elm and Enfield is the current site of CVS Pharmacy. The dealership was owned by Joe Kupec (thanks to several readers who provided that information).

Lastly, the pickup truck turning east onto Elm appears to be going a tad too fast, as it seems he has lost his left front wheel (I know he didn't, but it sure looks like he did).

Here is a recent photo of the exact area, courtesy of Google Maps:

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's Enfield trivia question was, "Prior to opening its complex at 293 Elm Street in 1992, what was the address of the Enfield Police Department?" It was designed to be somewhat of a trick question, as I expected most answers to be, "Uhhhh, that's easy, it was in Town Hall." A fact, yes, but not the correct answer, as Town Hall is not an address. Many folks were too sharp for me, however, as more actually gave the correct answer of 820 Enfield Street. A few even mentioned the prior location on North Main Street.

This week's trivia question:
Annually, the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame awards a pair of $1,000 scholarships to deserving senior student-athletes from Enfield High School; prior to the high school consolidation, the committee awarded one each to an Enfield and a Fermi graduate, plus the Amy Romano Memorial Scholarship. In order to be eligible for consideration for election to the Hall of Fame, a candidate must be out of high school for at least 15 years. To date, who is the only former scholarship winner to be elected to the Hall of Fame? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.

Do you have an old photo of Enfield you would like featured in this column? Email it, with a description, to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Photo credits: Laurel House courtesy of Picture Enfield; Elm/Enfield intersection by Google Maps

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