Enfield Historical Society

08/29/2026

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday's news to here, but here is today. There is lots of people going to court! And don't forget to follow our new page, that this has been shared from.

08/25/2026

Here is today's news, posted from our new page! I didn't put it in there, but also 7 sturgeon were caught in the canal, and another that was nearly 200 pounds was caught. The dam really stopped those massive fish from coming up, or just no one I know has caught one. Both are likely.

Update: my brother has seen them and says sometimes they go through the fish ladder in Mass. So they still exist, just not in the same numbers.

08/24/2026

Today is history has been posted to our new page, but for a week or so I expect to share it here, so if you have missed the post about changing pages, you can still find us.

08/24/2026

Sadly, after only 6 months with this page, we will be moving to a new one for the same reason this one was created in the first place... we do not have the admin rights to it. The new one will have my posts with the daily news (today's stories already chosen), and also whatever fun other things we have going on.

The new page, of which this photo is shared from, belongs to the organization as a whole, and not a single individual.

The stairwell in the Martha Parsons House and Museum. In 1800, John Ingraham, a retired sea captain from Saybrook, Connecticut, purchased the house for his family. In honor of the recently-deceased first president of the United States, Ingraham decorated the front hall with George Washington Memorial wallpaper, which remains to this day.

08/23/2026

Today we are in 1894, where typhoid fever is all over the place.

A compulsory visit was made to the attorney's office by a few young men, who all emded up paying fines for speeding on the bridge.

All of the school buildings are being repaired to be ready for the new term to start. I had to look up what being kalisomined is, and it turns out that is a term for whitewashing because it is one of the ingredients used.

There is a letter to the Press from someone who is quite upset with bicycle riders coming from behind and scaring them. I assume the bell may not have been a thing yet.

The Hazardville school has been paved with funds from the parriotic minded Athletic Club, having disbanded and deciding to donate their bursary.

Some men took their best girls out to Old Newgate Prison. That sounds like a fantastic date to me. But that is likely not the norm.
Also the recent explosion blew out some church windows that have to go to Boston for repairs.

Lastly, our ad for the day is for flowers from D. Brainard's greenhouse. I do not remember seeing an ad for him, just articles about his amazing displays and expansions of his space.

08/22/2026

Today we are in 1889, where falling and breaking one's arm seems to be contagious.

The Leete's seem to have their (first?) showing room for their funeral business. This is still the point of time where it is very common for the viewing to be at the home of the deceased, so this was likely a big deal.

I have never seen such a thing before, but a bank has printed all those who they have accounts for that have not been touched in 20 years or more, and they do not know where the person is. Much further down the list of towns, Hazardville has one gentleman, with $9.42 in his account.

It was decided to replace a bridge in Scitico and move the old one to a different location, and the work began basically immediately.

There was a sneak thief out to steal some money in a vest, but while her son ran to get the police, Mrs. Donald caused a ruckus, and the thief got away!

E.C. Allen has a new windmill that when finished, will bring up water from the well. That sounds fun.

Today' ad is from the classifieds. Someone has lost a pin, and is willing to pay a reward. Meanwhile the paper has found a pin and will only give it back with a reward. Hmmmmmmm.

08/22/2026

Most Saturday mornings, we have at least one person here at the Old Town Hall, working on some behind the scenes things.

I personally am currently transcribing a book of the G.A.R. that says when each soldier died, how, and which cemetery they are buried. Eventually I intend to visit the cemeteries for photos to go along with it.

But the point of this post is that our archivist, Susan, has found this wonderful document in our collection, showing thanks for an ambulance this town purchased for our namesake in England, shortly after the Blitz stopped, but long before the end of the war. In fact, the letter is dated only 2 weeks after the Blitz ended, making me believe we purchased it for such events.

08/21/2026

Today we are in 1902, so 22 years later than yesterday, and the road at Alden and Maple needs to be graded.

The old black mill has started to be torn down, and thankfully is sturdy enough that it will not crumble on the workers.

There is a display of oil paintings on display at a clothing store, and they will be kind of raffled off to people who open an account there. If my store I work at did this, I think we would get a lot less accounts as compared to giving discounts like we do.

The new barber shop is being opwned by a man who has been doing haicuts on the off season of being in the circus, but now wants to cut full time. That is probably a good choice if he has yet to be seriously injured in his act.

The carpet company is building its own power plant, with one of the most massive chimneys I have ever heard of.

The tracks around the locale of the torn down white mill will be rearranged for a better experience, bring both the black and the white mill into the days news.

Enfield used to have a camping club, it seems, and they were pretty active about it, as well as keeping the snakes they kill.

In addition to the power plant, the carpet factory is also getting its own fire engine. I feel like despite them closing parts of the factory all the time, they want to be sure to never miss out on business.

Instead of screen porches, a lot of houses have up mosquito netting. That is a very good idea.

And lastly is today's ad, for cow ease, to keep the flies away from your animals, but without poisoning the livestock.

08/20/2026

Today we are back to 1880, where there is a lot of news, starting with complaints about the open sewer. I am so very, very glad that we get to live without the open sewers of much of history.

There was a buggy upset, hopefully without sever injuries (probably... if it is possible for Mrs. Davis to have internal injuries.). Also, Mr. Smith has brought the newspaper some peaches, which you should also think about doing.

The Burns block has some new massive windows. Picture windows are quite pricey now, I wonder what it was then.

Some peach peddlers were arrested for selling under weight. They apparently had some sort of accent, because the paper tries to spell it out.

Charles Hargreaves seems to be a grifter of some sort, but also bad at it.

Speaking of the paper writing out affectations, Dr. Parsons has hay fever.

Honestly this next bit isn't too interesting, but they spelt Wallop "Wallup", which, like Jabbock, had a few different spellings at times.

Center district is not going to build a new bigger school for overcrowding. Though they are going to add another teacher. Also, Mrs. Frey killed herself with an accidental arsenic poisoning.

This next bit has three separate stories about it being cold.

Lastly is an obituary for Jabez King Jr, who was a big deal to the people who wprked on the river.