Motor Parkway Pavement Rediscovered in Albertson/Williston Park -Updated June 27, 2017
At the April 30th Historic Motor Parkway Memories Antique Car Show in Williston Park, a resident of Sigsbee Avenue informed me that Motor Parkway remnants still exist behind his home. Dave Russo, of Sam & Dave fame, went exploring and forwarded his photos.
Update June 22, 2017 and June 27, 2017: With permission of his neighbors, Williston Park resident Frank Mendyk has also documented Motor Parkway remnants in this area.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
1909 Motor Parkway Survey
Motor Parkway blueprint found recently in Malverne. Courtesy of Roy Knoernschild.
1914 Belcher-Hyde Map
Note the Motor Parkway from the Old Searingtown Road Bridge to Willis Avenue.
1950 Aerial
According to my favorite co-author Al Velocci, residents who bordered on the Motor Parkway at Sigsbee Avenue, William Street and Schley Avenue were given the opportunity to purchase 50-foot extensions from the end of their properties.to the center-line of the parkway.
In 1950,the Motor Parkway was still visible in aerial photos.
1981 (Courtesy of Ron Ridolph)
Ron Ridolph explored this section of the Motor Parkway in 1981 and found much of the road intact.
The primary road was 16-feet in width with the 3-foot concrete extensions on both sides.
Concrete posts can be seen partially hidden in the background.
Today (Submitted by Dave Russo)
The center-line of the Motor Parkway remains the border between Albertson and Williston Park.
Dave Russo explored the area south of Sigsbee Avenue and north of William Street.
Photos courtesy of Dave Russo.
The 3-foot concrete extension of the Motor Parkway added in the 1920s.
Today (Submitted by Frank Mendyk)
Concrete Fence-Posts
Pavement and the 3-foot concrete extensions
Converted into a basketball court!
Comments
Once again this road comes back to me. I delivered mail in Williston Park and William St was on my route. The park that is just to the north on the east side was into Albertson on was off limits to the carriers of Williston Park. I did manage to take a bathroom break at the Shelter Rock Library which is at the end of William St…..and I think it was built on LIMP land. Great discovery. Thanks
Really good stuff. You really can’t thank Mr. Ridolph enough for his documenting of the LIMP remnants during the 80’s. The photos he has taken obviously required knocking on many doors, and Dave & Sam are doing the same presently. And your site here is reaching out to the right people, Howard. There must be remnants remaining W/O here right up to the library. If I lived in one of these homes, my trusty line trimmer and growth kill would be put to good use.
The parkway pavement can still be seen in most of the back yards behind Schley Ave. I have not been back there much since childhood, but I know it is still there.
-joe o
Great stuff, Dave. Thanks for exploring which has given me more to do.
It looks like Ron and I were in the exact same spot, 36 years apart.
Rons 3rd pic down and my 5th appear to be the same backyard just west of the house on Sigsbee that has the LIMP.
I think we all take for granted how cool this is. Even us who know this is cool! 109 years later this original LIMP is still here. There are some locations where you can see how it survives, but just sitting in someone’s backyard like this is just crazy!
that looks like the old Marsicovetere house. They had a stretch pf ROW in their backyard. Part of the row unfortunately was owned by their neighbors. Took pics of this back in 2000. Gotta compare these pics to my collection I took from 99 to 02
Thanks for the additional photos, Frank. We can now see how the LIMP runs thru these property’s. It appears that some backyards have the full width all to themselves. Having a “slab” ready made in your backyard can be put to good use with some creativity.
Great pics Frank! You gotta give more details though! Your 6th pic down and my first are the same backyard. From that location I’m pretty sure there is nothing to the east of that location, so I’m assuming that all of your pictures are between this house and heading west towards the VFW Hall but please give us the details.
Shocked that all of this remains in backyards. These people must all be single men. I can’t see how wives would allow backyards to remain like this! I know mine wouldn’t!
That one house might have the oldest paved basketball court in the world!
What a great thing to have a piece of history sitting in your backyard.
It’s really nice to see that so many remnants remain in this section today after almost 80 years.
I KNEW I had old pix of the RoW at the library and it took me forever to locate them - last two 2000 shots at <http://sbiii.com/limpkwy6.html#wlalsear> [easier to go to <http://sbiii.com/limpkwy6.html#nsp-nhp>; directly above that]. Thanks as always, Dave and Howard, and you too, Frank M. Sam, III
I showed the pictures to my wife, who had relatives living on both sides of Sigsbee Ave. in the 1920s to about the1960s The LIMP ran past the back of her great-uncle and great-aunt’s yard; their last name was Martin; the relatives across the street were the Morrisons (her grandparents). She couldn’t tell if the yard pictured was theirs, although she does remember the slope down to the pavement.
in the 60’s i took my bike on the old motor parkway from lakeville road cutting through great neck HS and continued east. i followed the lilco power lines that wen through peolpe’s back yards,som put blocking cyclone fences with gates that i either had to lift my bike to get through or open the gate as lilco raeally did not allow such blockings. i ended up in the golf course and rode home after hitting hillside ave. your pictures brought back a great memory as i could never do that today on a regular bike (folding electric bike maybe), plus a lot of the road don’t exist between lakeville rd and williston park or could it be done again?