Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's excursion into Enfield history takes us back to a fabulous book of photographs entitled Images of America: Enfield Connecticut, compiled for the Enfield Historical Society by Michael K. Miller and first published in 1998. The book consists of pictures from the 1880s through the 1950s.

On page 26, we find a 2-story brick building, constructed around 1869, which became the second home of Enfield Street School. A wooden schoolhouse had been used since the district was formed in 1708, but it was torn down to make room for the more modern building. Modern, that is, except for indoor toilets, which were not installed until 1911.

The school was located at 1318 Enfield Street, in front of the site of the current school. On the front south edge of the property is a large stone containing a bronze plaque, placed by students in 1930 to mark the historic spot of the original school.

Here is a contemporary view of the site as well as the commemorative marker, taken at 7 o'clock this rainy morning by yours truly.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question was, "What color shirt did I wear in my 4th-grade class picture in 1974?" The answer: light blue, as evidenced by this rarely-seen photo of Angie McLaughlin's class at Prudence Crandall School. Some of those fashionable outfits make me wonder how our parents weren't thrown in jail for letting us go out of the house like that. Plaid pants, turtlenecks on boys, a collar that could double as a hang glider with a good running start, and a particularly rugged-looking me clad not only in a light blue shirt buttoned up to my lower lip, but sporting an equally intimidating white belt. Also take note of the impressive library book collection; well, half the shelves were filled. I completely forgot who had the first correct guess.

This week's trivia question:
During my freshman year, what was located directly across from the main entrance of the school? Try Googling that, then post the answer in the comments section below.

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