Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, features 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, Denny's, AAA and Starbucks now operate. Target was still light years away from construction.

Here is a more contemporary look at the location from Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "Walking into the Tobacco Valley Teachers Federal Credit Union, I swear I can still smell the fries and sandwiches from the Enfield Dairy Bar. What family owned that longtime institution, which had the greatest milkshakes this side of Shady Glen?" The answer: the Cimino family; in fact, many of us still refer to the old place as Cimino's.

This week's trivia question:
Prior to being purchased by the Kamerer family in 1983 and transformed into one of Enfield's finest small businesses, Grassmere Country Club on Town Farm Road was owned by Nick Giordano. Before taking on the name Grassmere, by what name was the golf course known? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.