Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series does not come from our usual source, the Facebook group Picture Enfield, but rather a submission made by one of our readers.

Diann Murray emailed a photo she took in 1985 of the former Elm Garage, located at 100 Elm Street directly in front of the Enfield Square shopping mall. It was owned by the Polek family, and consisted of four repair bays and pumps which dispensed Texaco gasoline.

In her email, Murray recalled, "This is the only place my parents went for repairs. Pete was always good to them and let them pay with a payment plan. I just thought it was a great staple of original family owned garages."

I have my own memories of Elm Garage, as my classmate Dino Tittarelli (one of the all-time Irish names) worked there during our days at Fermi High School. I would bring my vehicles there - first, my lovely brown '72 Olds Delta 88 with a hood you could hold infield practice on, then my red '76 Mustang (my first 5-speed car, in which I learned how to burn out a clutch in no time flat).

Shortly after closing in the late 1980s, the property became home to a Mobil Mart gas station, which still does business there today. The building and gas pump setup underwent a total renovation a few years ago, and now houses a convenience store and a Dunkin' Donuts (less than 200 yards from a full-size Dunkin' Donuts diagonally across Elm Street).

Here is how the property appears today.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's Enfield trivia question was, "The shopping center at 25 Hazard Avenue is currently named Enfield Commons. By what name was it known when it was first constructed in the late 1960s? " Some people were close, but no one got the answer exactly right; it was known as the Suburban Enfield Mall, and featured stores like Woolco and Sage-Allen. Evidence of the original name comes from this ad in the 1971 Enfield High School yearbook.

This week's trivia question:
Speaking of Dunkin' Donuts - how many DD locations currently exist in Enfield? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.

Photo credits: Diann Murray (Elm Garage), Google Maps (Mobil Mart), Enfield Historical Society via archive.org (Jonathan's)

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