Snapshots of Suffield

This photo was taken by Roger Loomis sometime in the early 1960s. Fred Lincoln (1893-1966) cuts his going-away cake at the Suffield Pharmacy. At the counter, left to right: Counter clerk Bea Phelps, Police Officers Murray Phelps, Tom Cain and Peggy Butler, Fred Lincoln, Percy Creelman, Mary Zukowski. At the rear: Floyd Young, unknown woman, Andy Sweatland, Harold Stewart, Frank Thompson, unknown woman, Royce McAlister, Pharmacy proprietor Chet Madey, Julius Osowiecki.

Old Town Hall, 1861-1968 located in the town center on Main Street. It replaced an earlier Town Hall which burned in 1860. In its final configuration, the Post Office was at the left and the Town Clerk and Selectmen at the right. The center door led to the courtroom on the first floor and stairs to the big meeting room above. When the building was built in 1861, school rooms were on the first floor.

The Babb family operated a summer lake resort on the shores of the Congamond Lake starting in the late 1890s. The roller-skating rink shown here was built circa 1930 as a dance hall featuring many Big Band musicians, then evolved into a roller-skating rink. A new floor was added in 1954 to improve the skating. It was immensely popular and hosted regional and national competitions.  The building was officially closed in June 1996 with an auction that September to sell off its contents.    

Gordon Hayes (1912-1989) was one of the first Black police officers in Connecticut and was Suffield's first Black police officer, serving for 30 years.  He retired in 1971. He also drove the ambulance for 27 years, and joined the Suffield Police Commission after his retirement. He was well-liked and also known for the Gordon Hayes Trick Horse Show. For about 60 years, he took his horses on the road for shows throughout New England, New York and New Jersey. He enjoyed them all, but especially the free ones he did for disabled children. Hayes was a member of the Ebony Horsemen. 

The Jerry Lewis Cinema was a popular place in the Suffield Village Shopping Mall. It opened on September 17, 1971 with Sean Connery in “The Red Tent”. Later renamed Village Theatre, it was closed October 31, 1999. Its last showing was “For the Love of the Game” with Kevin Costner.      

These women were the hostesses at the Food for Poland fundraiser organized by Paul Kulas held at The Suffield Inn on Feb. 28, 1982. The event raised $5000 (equivalent to over $16,000 in 2025).  From left to right: Louise Babiasz, Nellie Kopcienski, Ann Jaworski, Barbara Sutula, Janet Misek and Jean Kulas.

Others on the committee included the pastor at St. Joseph Church, Fr. Henry Fiedorczyk, Alfred Stafford, Joseph Osowiecki, Sam and Nancy Orr, Edward Szewczyk, John Misek, Marcia Alcorn, Joseph Sutula, Maryanne Alfano, Dorothy McCarty, Jean Kulas, Shirley Edmonds and Bill Roberts.

In 1897, Sidney Albert Kent, a Suffield native and successful Chicago businessman, donated $35,000 (equivalent to $1.3M in 2025) to build this library as a memorial to his parents, Albert and Lucinda Kent. The library was built by Daniel Burnham who also built the Flatiron Building in New York City and several other well-known buildings including those at Chicago’s 1892–93 World's Columbian Exposition, colloquially referred to as "The White City." The land where the library still stands once belonged to one of Suffield’s first settlers, the Kents, but in 1898 the land was owned by the Connecticut Literary Institute (CLI), now Suffield Academy. On November 1, 1899 the Kent Memorial Library (KML) was dedicated. In 1972, it was replaced by a new Kent Memorial Library located on Main Street. This library is now owned by the Suffield Academy.

The original fire department was officially chartered in 1897. Before the 1897 charter, firefighting was handled by earlier, smaller organizations like the West Suffield Ladder Company. Initially, volunteers stored equipment in their barns, but a central station was built on Bridge Street in the early 1900s, although later the fire station was moved behind the Town Hall on Main Street.