Then & Now: The First Deadman’s Curve in Bethpage
The most dramatic curve in the very curvy 44-mile Long Island Motor Parkway was the almost 90-degree turn south of Hermann Street in Bethpage. Remnants of the "Deadman's Curve" can still be found today as seen in these "Then & Now" images.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
This is the September 1907 survey of the curve in Bethpage. The property was purchased from Hermann Windhorst. The two nearby streets were named for the original owner; Hermann Avenue and Windhorst Avenue.
This 1914 Belcher-Hyde map showed the location of the first Deadman's Curve in Bethpage. As previously posted on VanderbiltCupRaces.com, the turn above Central Avenue was also called a "Deadman's Curve".
A aerial view showed the Motor Parkway in Bethpage was very much intact in 1950.
View Looking South
Then: 1908 During the Motor Parkway Sweepstakes, Axel Peterson's #M36 Rainer battled William Haupt's #P41 at the Deadman's Curve. A Long Island Rail Road train can be seen in the background acting as a spectator stand.
Then: 1908 Deadman's Curve was part of the courses for the1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes and the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Note: The banking of the curve and guard rails- pioneering road features for the period.
Then: 1908 The P43 Simplex driven by Frank Lescault at the Bethpage "Deadman's Curve" during the 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.
Then: 1910 A rare view of an early touring car on the Motor Parkway.
Now: 2003 Amazingly much of the banked curve survives today.
Now: 2008
Now: 2010
View Looking East
Then: 1911
Now: 2006
Now:2008
2012 Google Map
A 2012 Google Map view of the Deadman's Curve.
Comments
Nearly certain my dear grandfather worked on the parkway in this area…he bought a small parcel of property a few hundred feet from the roadway, just off Central, and eventually built a wonderful brick house there.
When growing up in New Hyde Park in the 50’s we used to play & ride bikes on a long stretch of the old parkway, between NHP Rd. and Shelter Rock Rd., including an overpass. Don’t know if anything is left now.
Howard - hope all is well. I went by Dead Man’s Curve 1 a few weeks back and noticed that the home on Broadway and the one on Windhorst that butt up against the Parkway are both for sale. Those are the properties with posts still intact and which I’ve documented on my website. Hopefully any new owners will appreciate the significance of the posts and the historic value of their property. I’ll keep a watch on the situation.