Public Presentation

Join Enfield Historical Society member, Jim Malley, for a presentation on the development of Thompsonville. The presentation will trace the settlement of the neighborhood and expansion of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company.  The program will also look at surrounding businesses, government officials, school officials, athletes, and military veterans in Thompsonville and how they were influenced by Italians[...]

Last March, author and Shaker scholar Stephen J. Paterwic delivered a presentation based on his latest book, The Shakers of Enfield, Connecticut 1780-1968. which is the first book devoted to telling the complete story of our relatively unknown Enfield, Connecticut Shaker village.  He returns by popular demand. Stephen describes this second presentation as follows: “My[...]

Peter F. Sorenson, author of Hazard Powder The Powder Hollow explosion of 1913 will lead a discussion of the Hazard Powder Company of Hazardville Connecticut from its beginning in 1834 to its ending in a fiery eruption in 1913. Learn about the: - incentives provided by the Revolutionary Government, which encouraged entrepreneurs to get involved in[...]

Jim Malley’s PowerPoint presentation will look at the five cemeteries serviced by the Enfield Cemetery Association, including the Enfield Street Cemetery, King Street (Pleasant Road) Cemetery, Thompsonville Cemetery, Hazardville Old Cemetery, and Hazardville New Cemetery.  Photographs of significant Enfield residents’ gravestones will also be included. This presentation is open to the public.  Anyone with an[...]

Return to the Enfield of the early 1900s and learn about Edwin Smith Vail and Elmcroft, the Sanitarium Dr. Vail established in 1890 for the treatment and care of patients with nervous and mental disease. As stated in an advertisement, the facility was "situated in the beautiful New England town of Enfield on the N.Y.,[...]

While many people fondly remember Thompsonville's Strand Theatre (later the Enfield Cinema) on North Main Street, it was not the only movie theater in Thompsonville.  Nor was it the first.  Decades earlier in the silent movie era, the Scenic Theatre held that honor.  Then there were the Orpheum, the Franklin, and the Majestic.  All before[...]

Presentation by author and Enfield Historical Society president Peter F. Sorenson. Return with us to the time when Thompsonville, Connecticut, was the Boxing Mecca of the Northeast. We will begin back in February 1929, at Wawel Hall, located on the second floor of the Polish National Home in Thompsonville, at the corner of Alden Avenue[...]

Presentation by Enfield Historical Society member Michael Miller. Enfield has always been home to creative and ingenious people.  Innumerable inventions have been born of their genius.  And many of our Enfield innovators (or their employers) received patents for their inventions or designs.  From the incredibly complex machinery that made Thompsonville's carpet factories so productive and[...]

Presentation by author and Enfield Historical Society member William Fournier. An Historical Research Documentation of the Great(est) Island of the Connecticut River TERRY’S ISLAND TELLINGS OF THE TIMELINES, TITLES, TALES AND TRUTHS Just beyond the early morning fog lies a Land of Legend, here long before man. Here is one of it’s many stories… TERRY'S[...]

Photo: Hazard Powder Company dam on the Scantic River.  The Powder Mill Barn is in the center background. Join Enfield Historical Society Member Jim Malley for a presentation on Rivers, Brooks and Ponds in Enfield. The presentation will trace the map location and the naming of the waterways. The program will also look at how[...]

Join the Enfield Historical Society for an informative and entertaining program about our shared history. Chester and Frank Pilch were household names in Enfield during the mid-20th Century. Chet learned the art of chick “sexing” which brought him success early on in life, and he turned that into an extremely successful business model. Frank became a[...]

Photo: The PA & HD Crombie Klondike Ice Company was located on Freshwater Pond in the Thompsonville section of Enfield. An unidentified worker, Peter A. Crombie, Sr., and Francis Crombie Sr., at age 11, are collecting ice on Freshwater Pond in this circa 1915 photo. North Main Street is in the background. Dennis Picard will[...]