Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series brings us back to a fabulous book of renowned local photographer Ed Malley's pictures, compiled by his son Jim, entitled "Images of America: Enfield 1950-1980." The book was published in 2003, and copies may be obtained here.

On page 68 is an aerial view of Thompsonville taken in 1978, at the end of the town's controversial urban renewal project. In the foreground is Enfield Street, or Route 5. The vacant land in the bottom left corner of the photo was developed in 1979 into a small commercial strip plaza which currently houses a Whole Donut shop and Domino's Pizza, among others.

To the right of the vacant land is Connecticut Bank and Trust, which had one of the earliest ATMs in the area, known at the time as "Barney." The bank has undergone several incarnations in the past few decades, including Fleet Bank, and is currently Bank of America.

The white buildings to the right of CBT were home for more than 25 years to Laurel House Furniture. In the late 1990s, the Savvy Shopper took over the space, followed in 2003 by Homestead Broyhill. It has been vacant since 2007.

In the bottom right corner of the photo, across a newly-realigned North Main Street, buildings were still standing on the site of the current Enfield town green.

In the center of the picture, between Freshwater Brook and Freshwater Pond, construction had not yet begun on a pair of housing complexes, Ella Grasso Manor and Freshwater Pond Apartments. Likewise, to the left across Central Street, the land just east of the U.S. Post Office was still vacant; in 1985, the High Street Plaza was built.

Slightly west of that area, at the intersection of High and Pearl streets, is the Browne Building. A year after this photo was taken, a raging fire destroyed the building and the five businesses it contained: Provencher's Carpets, Enfield Cycle Stuff, Carl's Bike Center, the Ernest Shop and the High Street Barber Shop.

Just west of the pond is Thompsonville Drug and the old Strand Theater, as well as the newly-constructed building now known as the Angelo Lamagna Activity Center. The Enfield Recreation Department moved earlier this year to the former Enrico Fermi High School building on North Maple Street, and the Lamagna Center is slated for demolition.

Finally, in the top right corner near the Connecticut River stands the decaying Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company mill, which had been abandoned in 1971 and would continue to deteriorate until John Corcoran & Company invested $63 million into a historic conversion of the property into apartments in 1988.

Here is a more contemporary look at the area, courtesy of Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's (actually, August 14th's) trivia question was: "Enrico Fermi High School opened 50 years ago, for the 1971-72 academic year. Who was the first head of the social studies department?" The answer: Franklin Gross, as seen below on a page from the 1972 Fermi yearbook, courtesy of the Enfield Historical Society. Pat Droney was the first person to come up with the correct answer.

This week's trivia question:
Of all the streets in the Presidential section of town, which one is spelled differently than the chief executive for which it is named? Without blatantly Googling the answer, then copying and pasting it verbatim to pretend you're a know-it-all, post the answer in the comments section below under your real name (we'll see who follows directions).

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