Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of a fabulous book of renowned local photographer Ed Malley's pictures compiled by his son Jim entitled Enfield: 1950-1980, features a mirror-image look at several buildings reflecting off Freshwater Pond in 1954. Visible from left are the Strand Theater, the courthouse building, the town hall, the First Presbyterian Church, the Dressmaker Shop and the Midnite Spa.

The pond was larger at that time, extending all the way to the sidewalk in front of the theater and court building on North Main St. A year after this picture was taken, the northwest portion was filled in to construct a new 87-car municipal parking lot; years later, the lot was removed and replaced with landscaped greenery.

Prior to and during the "urban renewal" project of the 1970s, the courthouse, town hall, church and dressmaker buildings were all razed. They were replaced by the Enfield Neighborhood Center (now the Angelo Lamagna Activity Center) and a bank, which later became a restaurant, and was recently purchased as the new home of the Enfield Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen.

Here is a more contemporary aerial overview of the scene, courtesy of Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "Augie and the late Ken Gwozdz became the first brothers inducted into the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. How did you pronounce their last name (please write it out phonetically)?" The answer: gvush (rhymes with push). Several people had the correct answer, with Donna Swols being first, even including this thorough explanation. "Polish is a unique language where it sometimes is phonetically challenging. Gvush similar to 'push.' Anglecized its Gwaz." Thanks Donna!

This week's trivia question:
The cover of Jim Malley's book, shown below, features a 1962 photo of some members of the eighth-grade graduating class of St. Joseph's School on Cross Street. While we offer no commentary on the various facial expressions displayed (including joy, silliness and utter misery), attention is drawn to a boy in the second row on the far right, who unlike all of his classmates is looking directly to his left. His family owned a popular business in town for decades; in fact, it was still in existence within the past five years. Can you name him and the store? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page, or on the You're Probably From Enfield If Facebook page, or by emailing me directly at tim.jensen@patch.com. The first person to correctly answer the question without blatantly Googling, copying and pasting the answer, as well as gives their actual name, will be acknowledged the following week.

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