The Day the Garden City Lodge Moved- March 19, 1989
The Garden City Lodge was the fifth toll lodge built for the Long Island Motor Parkway. It was one of the six toll lodges designed by John Russell Pope with living quarters for the toll-takers and their families.
When the Motor Parkway closed in April 1938, the toll-taker Christian Ernst and his wife Elizabeth purchased the lodge and its quarter acre. The Ernsts made it their home until 1977 when it was sold to a local realtor. Ownership changed several times over the next ten years with the building intact. However in 1987, new owners planned to tear down the toll lodge for the construction of a new home.
The Garden City Chamber of Commerce sprung into action and began a campaign to save the toll lodge and move it to a new location in Garden City.They issued this brochure to solicit funds for the project. With the donation of the lodge by the Taylor Warner Real Estate and community support, the toll lodge was saved by the Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Garden City.
The lodge was moved from its Clinton Road location to Seventh Street in the heart of Garden City on March 19, 1989.
The move was documented in several photos found in the archives of the Nassau County Police Department.
The lodge on Franklin Avenue in Garden City.
The front of the toll lodge.
A side view of the toll lodge.
The toll lodge reaching it new site on Seventh Street.
The restored Garden City Lodge as it looks today. It is the current home of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, which maintains a small museum of parkway images and related memorabilia in the building's basement.
Hope to see you today in Old Westbury:
Old Westbury Gardens Car Show, Greater NY AACA, Old Westbury.The 1909 Alco "Black Beast" will be on the field.
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