Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series: #3 The Hollis Court Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge in Queens
A total of 60 Motor Parkway bridges were built from 1908 to 1926 ...a pioneering concept to eliminate grade crossings for an automobile road. There are four types of Motor Parkway bridges; over crossroads (parkway bridges), under crossroads (highway bridges), over railroad tracks (railroad bridge) and, as part of right-of-way agreements, to connect farmlands (farmway bridges). This series will document these bridges beginning at the Western Terminus in Fresh Meadows, Queens to the Eastern Terminus in Lake Ronkonkoma. Today's focus: the Hollis Court Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge in Queens:
Built in 1926, the third parkway bridge in Queens goes over Hollis Hills Terrace, formerly called Hollis Court Boulevard and Queens Road. Identical to the 73rd Avenue Bridge and Springfield Boulevard Bridge, this bridge is one of only five Motor Parkway bridges still standing.
1928 Motor Parkway Atlas-Fresh Meadows, Queens
This is the Fresh Meadows page of the Atlas with my captions. As seen on the right, the current road name Hollis Hills Terrace was originally called Queens Road.
June 23, 1938 Aerial
Courtesy of the Archives of the New York City Parks Department
This aerial of Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows looking east shows the severe 90-degree curve of the Motor Parkway in the lower left section. Note: Union Turnpike was still under construction and Francis Lewis Boulevard had not been built. Obviously, the bridge over Francis Lewis Boulevard on the bike path is not an original Motor Parkway bridge.
June 23, 1939 Aerial
Courtesy of the Fairchild Collection at the Benjamin and Gladys Thomas Air Photo Archives located in the UCLA Department of Geography
This is one of my favorite aerials of the Motor Parkway in Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows. Looking west, the World's Fair in Flushing can be seen in the right corner of the photo.
A closer look of the symbols of the 1939-1940 World's Fair- Trylon and Perisphere.
1941 Aerial
Courtesy of the Fairchild Collection at the Benjamin and Gladys Thomas Air Photo Archives located in the UCLA Department of Geography
The Motor Parkway in Hollis Hills looking east. Union Turnpike in this section was now completed.
2011 Current Views
Today, the Hollis Hills Terrace Bridge is located in what I consider the most beautful setting for an existing Motor Parkway Bridge. The bridge is activley used by cyclists and pedestrians as part of the Brooklyn Queens Greenway.
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com and the Internet:
Archives: Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series
The 1928 Long Island Motor Parkway Atlas
Brooklyn-Queens Greenway Guide
Archives: Long Island Motor Parkway- Bridges
Archives: Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges- Queens
Comments
I grew up on the other side of Horace Harding Blvd. From what I remember, Hollis Hills Terrace became the name soon after the Clearview Expressway opened, which cut the road off. Before that, as far as I can remember from the 50s, it was Hollis Court Blvd. The beginning of the Q26 bus run was at the intersection of Hollis Court Blvd. and Francis Lewis Blvd.
Hi rmw,
The name of the street was originally Queens Road because it was the road that took you from Flushing to the Village of Queens (a.k.a. Queens Village) in the Town of Jamaica.
I believe that they renamed all the streets in Queens after the western half of the County of Queens was consolidated into NYC. It was probably in the 1910s and 1920s and I bet that’s when the street was first renamed as Hollis Court Blvd.
You are right that after the Clearview opened, the section south of 73rd Ave (Blackstump Road) became known as Hollis Hills Terrace.