Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — With Black Friday just hours away, we figured we would revive a popular feature on Enfield Patch that reminds us of the good ol' days. Courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, we take a look at an early 1970s aerial view of what at the time was one of Enfield's busiest spots - the Enfield Square shopping mall.

It seems odd today to see customers' cars in the lot, but the mall was thriving at that time, anchored by retailers G. Fox & Co., JCPenney and Steiger's. Every storefront was occupied back then, with dozens of shops including Airport, Friendly's, Lerner, Child World, Chess King, Hickory Farms, Kay Jewelers, L'Expo and many others. Let us know what your favorite spot was in the Square.

Also notable in this photo is the absence of buildings on the access road to the Square from Hazard Avenue; Abdow's (now a 3-store plaza including Chipotle), the Red Roof Inn and the Motel 6 had yet to be built. Toward the lower right of the photo is Cine Enfield 1 & 2, adjacent to Woolco. In the top left, there is no sign of Wendy's, Friendly's or Figaro's, and along Elm Street, houses stand where Burger King, the soon-to-open Golden Nozzle Car Wash and Starbucks now operate. Target was still light years away from construction.

Here is a similar view from Google Maps from early 2022, taken prior to construction of Popeye's.