Long Island Motor Parkway
Map of the Motor Parkway
The Long Island Motor Parkway was initially promoted as “The World’s Modern Appian Way,” a moniker first presented to the public in a Harper’s Weekly article written by A.R. Pardington in March 1907. Vanderbilt and his associates were careful to position the Motor Parkway as not primarily a speedway for race cars, but a modern convenience to all automobile enthusiasts. They extolled the virtues of economic development and the efficiency of quickly retreating from the city to the calm and healthful benefits the fresh country air of Long Island had to offer.
Long Island Motor Parkway Annual-Fee Plates
The Long Island Motor Parkway would eventually connect Fresh Meadows, Queens, to Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County, a total of 48 miles. A 5” x 5” porcelain annual-fee plate was issued to permit unrestricted year-round use on the Parkway. Number 100 was assigned to William K. Vanderbilt Jr. Reflecting its poor profitability and the availability of new free public parkways, the Long Island Motor Parkway closed for good on Easter Sunday, 1938.
Preparing for the 1908 Race -->
Feature
The 128-page book by Howard Kroplick, a researcher and lecturer on the races, contains rare images of the races from the archives of major museums, libraries and private collectors. The book Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island will be available from Arcadia Publishing in March 2008.
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