Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Hard to picture this nowadays, but for nearly a century, there was a covered bridge spanning the Connecticut River from Enfield to Suffield, at the bottom of Bridge Lane (hence its name). This postcard from the Enfield Historical Society shows the wooden structure sometime in the 1800s; the story of the bridge and its spectacular demise is amazing.

Pages 14 and 15 of a great book of photographs from the 1880s through 1950s, entitled Images of America: Enfield Connecticut, details the construction of the original uncovered bridge in 1808, its collapse in 1821, and completion of the replacement span, depicted above, in 1832.

The covered bridge was utilized for 68 years, but was destroyed by floodwater in 1900. Here is the story of its destruction, taken directly from the book by Michael Miller.

"On February 14, 1900, flood waters from the rising river threatened to destroy the bridge. Authorities of the New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroad feared that if the bridge collapsed, the debris would damage the railroad bridge 2 miles down the river at Warehouse Point. Hosea Keach, an agent for the railroad at Bridge Lane Station, was assigned the task of watching the bridge and sending a warning when the bridge was near collapse. At about 2 p.m., he went out onto the bridge. As he neared the end of the first span, three spans, including the one he was on, collapsed into the river. Somehow Hosea scrambled up into the timber framing at the top of the span, where he found himself sitting on a beam with his feet dangling over the rushing water. Luck continued to be on his side, and using a piece of lumber he was able to punch a hole through the roof that was large enough to climb through. In one last bit of good fortune, two railroad employees at the Warehouse Point bridge, Arthur Blodgett and R.A. Abbe, saw Hosea and lowered a rope from the railroad bride as the span he was on floated underneath it. He was pulled to safety wet but uninjured."

Tiny islands where the bases of the bridge's piers had been located are the only remnants of the bridge. They can be seen in this contemporary aerial view, courtesy of Google Maps.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "The cover of Jim Malley's book, Images of America: Enfield 1950-1980, 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?" The answer: Jack Whiteley, whose family owned the Moore Rug Co. at 555 Enfield St. The business was founded in 1920, and John Whiteley, Jack's dad, purchased the store and filed a trade name certificate in Dec. 1959. Upon its closure in 2017, it was the oldest floor covering store in New England. Several people gave us the correct answer, with Mary Marinaccio Desrosier being first. She wrote, "Jack Whiteley was in class with my brother, Michael Marinaccio, 3row, and three of my cousins, Christopher Harlambakis, and Jeanne Marinaccio, front row, Robert Goss, top row center. What a great memory, thanks."

This week's trivia question:
What team won seven championships in the Enfield Flag Football League? 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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