Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — A thousand apologies for the brief hiatus from this column the past few weeks. Our last edition ran on July 15, and believe me, I have heard about its absence from a number of folks since then, sooooooo...

For today's look back into Enfield's past, we return to a great book of photographs from the 1880s through 1950s, entitled Images of America: Enfield Connecticut. The book was compiled in 1998 by Michael Miller for the Enfield Historical Society.

Chapter Five is devoted to the gunpowder industry in Hazardville, and on page 111, we find a photo of the mill's packing house, also known as the canister house.

"Black powder was packaged in wooden barrels, wooden kegs, and metal canisters of various sizes ranging from 1/4 pound to 25 pounds or more."

A new book by Enfield resident Peter Floyd Sorenson, Hazard Powder: the Powder Hollow Explosion of 1913, describes in tremendous detail the entire history of the gunpowder industry in town.

The site of the old packing house is now occupied by a baseball diamond in Powder Hollow Park. Here is a recent picture, taken this spring by yours truly.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question (which was actually three weeks ago) was, "What distinction was accorded the Grey's Club in 1997, the first of its kind?" The answer: in recognition of its decades-long contribution to the Enfield sporting landscape, the club was the inaugural recipient of the George Daly Special Recognition Award by the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame.

This week's trivia question:
Which downtown Thompsonville retail business of the 1950s and 1960s is still going strong today, albeit in East Windsor? Post the answer in the comments section below under your real name (we'll see who follows directions).

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