Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, features an early 1970s photo of 699 Enfield Street, home at the time to Schermerhorn's Fish Market.

Prior to being a seafood store, the property was home to a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Friendly's restaurant; in fact, the baseball diamond behind the building, where I played several years in the Thompsonville Farm League, was known as Friendly Field.

After the fish market closed in the mid-1980s, Matthew Porcello, who owned the automotive garage across the street, bought the property with his wife, Nancy. The building remained vacant for many years until being purchased an demolished in 2011. Original plans were for a 5,750 square foot Carquest automotive parts retail store to operate there, but that plan never came to fruition.

The site currently houses Amped Fitness and CT Hometown Realty.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's Enfield trivia question was, "In 1741, preacher Jonathan Edwards delivered his famous sermon, "Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God," right here in Enfield. 230 years later, a totally different Jonathan Edwards reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with what folk-rock classic?" The answer: "Sunshine," which was released in 1971 by Minnesota native Jonathan Edwards and spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 4 on Jan. 15, 1972. Edwards, 72, currently lives in Portland, Me. and is still an active performer; he is scheduled to play Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center ("The Kate") in Old Saybrook.

This week's trivia question:
Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1683 as the Freshwater Plantation, Enfield acquired its present name around the turn of the 18th century. Freshwater Brook and Freshwater Pond are significant bodies of water in town. What Native American word meaning "fresh water" is the name of a prominent institution in town, as well as the name of a street in Thompsonville? 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.

Historic photo courtesy of Picture Enfield
Current photo courtesy of Enfield Assessor's Office

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