Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today we return to Jim Malley's great picture book of his dad Ed's photos, entitled Enfield: 1950-1980, to a rarely-seen view of one of the town's busiest commercial districts at a time when it was still little more than farmland. This aerial photo from 1958 shows early construction work of Interstate 91 over Elm Street and the diamond-forming ramps which are now known as Exit 48.

In the bottom center of the photo are Lynch Terrace and O'Hear Ave., and heading northward on the left side, across Elm, are Margaret Street (with just one house at the time, as opposed to the eight situated there today) and Charles Street, leading to the grounds and ballfields of the Mount Carmel Society.

On the right side of the picture, long before construction of the Enfield Square, sits farmland and the old Elm Garage, at about the same spot as the modern day Mobil Mart. On the north side of Elm are single-family homes, which are long gone in favor of fast food city (McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Denny's, Burger King). Elm Plaza had yet to be built at that time.

Developers bought up most of the property in the 1960s and 1970s, changing the landscape entirely from rural to commercial. Here is a Google Maps look at the area today from roughly the same angle (sorry about the words and pins; my technically-challenged 50-something year old self has no clue how to get rid of that stuff).

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question included my third-grade class picture, and I asked readers to pick me out of the crowd. The answer: back row, green plaid shirt with glasses. I'll pause momentarily while you howl with laughter.

This week's trivia question:
Take a gander at the photo below, which I took yesterday, and tell us on what Enfield road is this design wonder? Yes, I know that when the town built the sidewalk, there was a tree there, and instead of cutting it down, they simply curved around it. Now that the tree has been removed, it looks ... well ... kinda silly; ya know what I mean? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.

To register for free Enfield news alerts and more, click here.