Vanderbilt Cup Races

Syd and Ellen (members of the Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society): "Howard, can you please post photos of the Meadow Brook Lodge and help us determine where it was once located?"

Syd & Ellen, no problema...here is a "Then & Now" of one of the three original lodges that were built for opening day of the Long Island Motor Parkway on October 10, 1908:

Then: May 1908- Survey

As shown in this 1908 survey, the Meadow Brook Lodge was located west of Merrick Avenue and north of Stewart Avenue in Westbury. The 0.799 acres were sold to the Motor Parkway by the heirs of A.T. Stewart.

Then-1908

A view of the lodge looking north. The Meadow Brook Lodge was one of the three identical toll lodges designed by John Russell Pope. They were two-story buildings, sturdily constructed of brick. Besides serving as toll-collecting stations, the lodges were also homes of the toll collectors and their families.

A rare view of the lodge looking south from the Motor Parkway.

Then: 1910

The Motor Parkway in front of the Meadow Brook Lodge was the beginning of the parkway section for the 1908, 1909 and 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Races courses. This 1910 photo taken on the Merrick Avenue Bridge shows the #9 Amplex driven by Walter Jones after passing the Meadow Brook Lodge on the left. Note the flagman warning spectators of the car on the course.

Then- Aerial August 3, 1938

The Motor Parkway can be seen in the middle of this 1938 aerial running almost parallel to Stewart Avenue. Merrick Avenue is the major road on the diagonal. Note: A section of the Roosevelt Raceway in the upper left corner- site of the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Races.

The entrance to the lodge was south of the Motor Parkway. The Meadow Brook Lodge can be seen at the end of the "keyhole".

Then: Aerial-1960s

The "keyhole" entrance and the Merrick Avenue bridge abutment remnants were still visible in this 1960s aerial. The Meadow Brook Lodge was located at the keyhole and south of the Motor Parkway Right-of-Way.

Then: 1910

The entrance/exit ramp and sign to the Meadow Brook Lodge were located on the south side of the Long Island Motor Parkway and west of Merrick Avenue in East Meadow. The lodge can be seen in the distance, while the beginning of the parkway bridge over Merrick Avenue is to the right of the three men.

Now: 2008

This is the same ramp as seen in 2008. Instead of approaching a toll lodge, it leads to the back parking lot of the New York Community Bank building...the site of the Meadow Brook Lodge.

Now: Aerial- 2011

The site of the Meadow Brook Lodge (south of the Motor Parkway), the "keyhole" entrance, and the Motor Parkway right-of-way through Eisenhower Park. Note the layout of the golf course holes north of the Motor Parkway Right-Of-Way have not changed significantly from 1938.

Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com and the Internet:

The 20 Toll Collection Structures of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Archives: Long Island Motor Parkway Toll Lodges

Approaching the Merrick Avenue Bridge during the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race

John Russell Pope