Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, features a stereotypical mom-and-pop shop which dotted the Thompsonville landscape for decades: Albert Vesce's bike repair shop.

The unmistakable sign over the door on North Main Street, consisting merely of an actual bicycle, was known universally. Vesce was "a busy man in the days when kids didn't have cars," said longtime patron Robert Underwood in 2000.

The majority of the houses and businesses on North Main Street, including Vesce's shop, were razed during the mid-1970s urban renewal project, when the street, which formerly ran adjacent to Town Hall, was realigned to follow the contour of Freshwater Pond and meet up straight across from Elm Street. Here is a photo of the approximate area of the shop as it appears today, courtesy of Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "Alphabetically, what is the last street name listed in Enfield directories?" The answer: Yale Drive, located in the Enfield Historic District just off Route 5, starting at Broadleaf Lane and ending at Pearl Street Extension near the Connecticut River.

(Photo credit: Google Maps)

This week's trivia question:
Today's trivia question is in multiple-choice format. How did Hazardville acquire its name? A) after the TV series featuring cousins Bo and Luke, with drop-dead gorgeous cousin Daisy; B) from the 4 bedroom, 2 bath pothole on 190 that I believe cracked my front axle last week; or C) for Col. Augustus Hazard, who manufactured tons of gunpowder in the section of the village known as Powder Hollow. Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.