Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's look back into Enfield history takes us about as far back as we've gone in this column, to a photo taken around the turn of the 20th century of a family-owned business which thrived in the Hazardville section of Enfield for over a century.

In 1881, E.C. Allen and A.W. Gowdy purchased the Bridge Brothers store on what was then called Main Street in Hazardville. A year later, Gowdy sold his interest to Allen, and E.C. Allen's was born. According to this advertisement on the back cover of the 1891 Thompsonville and Hazardville Directory, the store sold everything from groceries to shoes, from mattresses to clocks, from carriages to organs.

In 1911, E.C. Allen's was listed as the largest general store between Hartford and Springfield. Unfortunately, in Jan. 1919 the building was destroyed by fire, and a new brick one was constructed in its place. That brick building is still in use today.

By the time this ad appeared in the 1941 Enfield High School yearbook, The Echo, E.C. Allen & Sons was promoting radios, cameras and philgas (bottled natural gas), in addition to groceries and general merchandise.

The business carried on at 336 Hazard Ave. into the early 1990s, co-owned by Arthur Allen and operated by vice president Edward C. Allen II, until closing in Aug. 1993. Ed, a well-known Hazardville historian, passed away in 2007 at age 79, while Arthur died in 2012 at 92.

In 1995, the building was sold to its next-door neighbor, the Hazardville United Methodist Church, and has been leased by small businesses for the past 25 years. Among the tenants have been Tubs & Stuff Plumbing Supply and Carl's Appliance Service, which relocated from its longtime home in Thompsonville. Here are photos of those two businesses.

Since 2018, CT Power Tools has operated in that location. Here is a contemporary look at the site, taken by me around 6:30 this morning.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "A hotel at 1 Bright Meadow Boulevard in Enfield, currently known as the Fairfield Inn & Suites, has been through numerous incarnations since its construction 45 years ago. It has been the Holiday Inn, the Radisson Hotel, the Crowne Plaza, and to most Enfield residents, it will forever be the Harley Hotel. However, what was its name upon its opening in 1975?" The answer: The Hospitality Inn. A number of folks correctly remembered the name, with Matt Buanno being first.

This week's trivia question:
At what former Enfield restaurant was the initial organizational meeting for Asnuntuck Community College held in 1971? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.

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