Vanderbilt Cup Races

Frank Femenias believes there may be a link between the short-life of the Camp Mills (1918-1919) and the reason the nearby "Mayan Ruins"Motor Parkway Bridge was never completed.  Did Frank convince you with these amazing overlays?

Enjoy,

Howard Kroplick

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Frank Femenias:

Noticing the proximity of the Mayan Ruins abutments to Camp Mills Base Hospital, I couldn’t resist to create an overlay using the 1926 aerial Cheryl Lynn Blum submitted.
 
Hospital Road, once running adjacent to the Motor Parkway, terminated right at the foot of the never-built bridge. The aerial also reveals how many walked through dirt paths to cross the parkway at the southern end of the abutments. And though barely visible in the photograph, I can still faintly read the year 1913 or 1917 on the abutment sign.
 
Could it be the bridge was never built because of the hospital’s short life span 1918-1919?

Source: U.S. Army Medical Department-Military Hospitals

BASE HOSPITAL, CAMP MILLS, LONG  ISLAND, N. Y.

The base hospital at Camp Mills was situated in Nassau County, Long Island, N. Y., about 10 miles from the eastern boundary of Greater New York, and 1 mile, to the east, from Mineola.

The terrain is practically flat. The soil is a sandy loam in which there is a small amount of gravel.  It readily pulverizes in dry weather, forming easily carried dust, and becomes a tenacious mud after rains.

The climate is moderate during the greater portion of the year. In the winter there is an occasional severely cold spell; the spring and fall are delightful; and during the summer about two or three weeks only might be considered uncomfortably warm.

Camp Mills was selected as a mobilization camp for the Rainbow Division (42nd), so called, because the sources of its component elements were geographically diversified. The division assembled in the early part of September, 1917; and, after a training period of one and one-half months, embarked for France. Because it was known that this division would remain but a short time in the United States, and that the subsequent mobilization of divisions was an uncertainty, no cantonment type of base hospital was constructed at Camp Mills at this time. A camp hospital, composed of a few existing buildings and of tentage mostly, was organized for the care of the sick of the 42nd Division.

The organized camp hospital remained at Camp Mills, upon the departure of the 42nd Division, to care for the sick of that command whom it was necessary to leave in the United States. It was fortunate that the hospital was in existence, for on October 26, 1917, the 41st Division was ordered from Camp Greene, N. C., to Camp Mills, with the view to its embarkation for France within a short period.

In the general description of the conditions of the various embarkation and debarkation hospitals at the port of Hoboken, it was related how, because of the total inadequacy of the cluster of hospital tents for the care of the sick of the 41st Division at Camp Mills, supervisory control of the hospital at that camp was given to the port surgeon, Hoboken, and how relief from the situation was had by transferring selected patients to civil hospitals in New York City and on Long Island.

It was not until April 6, 1918, that a base hospital was organized. At this time Evacuation Hospital No. 4 was sent to Camp Mills from Camp Crane, Allentown, Pa., and it was utilized in the establishment of a base hospital.

The fair grounds at Mineola contained 6 cattle sheds, 1 poultry house, 1 grand stand, 5 exhibition buildings, 2 small houses for the storage of paint, and the stables. These buildings were occupied by Evacuation Hospital No. 4 on April 9, 1918.

The stables were utilized for quarters for officers. The nurses were domiciled in houses in Mineola, rented by the Quartermaster Corps. The enlisted men were quartered partly in the stables and partly in tents.

a The statements of fact appearing herein are based on the "History, Base Hospital, Camp Mills, Long Island," by Lieut. Col. A. W. Cutler, M. C., U.S.A., while on duty as a member of the staff of that hospital. The material used by him in the compilation of the history comprised official reports from the various divisions of the hospital. The history is on file in the Historical Division, Surgeon General's Office, Washington, D. C.-Ed.

The hospital mess was at first located in the poultry house. This arrangement was found to be very unsatisfactory, and the lower portion of the grand stand was converted into a kitchen and mess hall, where the enlisted men and ambulatory patients ate. The officers of the organization maintained their own mess in the stables, using the broad isle between the stalls-the sleeping compartments-for a dining hall.

There were no storehouses, so tents and sheds were used in which to store the supplies.

The water supply was derived from Mineola. Its source was artesian wells, and the quality of the water was so excellent as to require no purification treatment.

A sewerage system was constructed so as to connect the various buildings of the fairgrounds with a main sewer, the outlet of which was a small sewage-disposal plant on the grounds. Each cow shed contained two toilet bowls, and each exhibition building had five.

The garbage from the hospital was disposed of to local farmers, who made collections twice daily.

On May 6, 1918, the construction of a surgical pavilion was begun. This building comprised seven rooms and some linen closets, and was planned to house not only the surgical activities, but the eye, ear, nose and throat, X-ray, dental, and genitourinary departments. It was ready for occupancy June 15, 1918, but could not be utilized for surgical operations until later, because of the lack of equipment.

On September 16, 1918, the constructing quartermaster received authority to construct a semipermanent 2,000-bed base hospital. A site was selected northwest of Camp Mills and just to the east of the fairgrounds. Work on the construction of the hospital was rapidly pushed, and the first 600 beds were ready for occupancy on October 26, 1918. The entire group of buildings was completed by February 1, 1919.

The arrangement of the buildings conformed to the ultimate block plan designed in the office of the Surgeon General-block plan E, Figure 13. Each building was two-storied, and, because of the close proximity to one another, were made of fire-resisting material-metal lath with stucco covering.

On September 18, 1919, there being no further use for it, the base hospital was abandoned. 

Statistical data, United States Army Base Hospital, Camp Mills, Mineola Long Island, N. Y.,  from April 6, 1918, to September 18, 1919, inclusive.

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1926 Garden City aerial submitted by Cheryl Lynn Blum.

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Overlay

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Buildings

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Buildings-Zoomed

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Roadways and RR Spur

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Powerhouse and RR Spur -Zoomed

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Dirt Walk Paths

1926 Camp Mills Base Hospital Crossing the Motor Parkway- Zoomed

The Unfinished "Mayan Ruins" Bridge