Mystery Friday Foto #10 Solved: Time for a Cool, Refreshing Drink at John Allen’s House on the 1904 Course
Did you identify John Allen's home and refreshment stand?
Identify;
- The owner of the house/refreshment stand
The John Allen home at the intersection of Powell Lane and Jericho Tpke.
- Other than a refreshment stand, what other Vanderbilt Cup Race purpose did the house serve as?
For the 1906 races, John Allen's home became the conveniently located HQ for the Vanderbilt Cup Commission.
- Location
The house was located on the south side of Jericho Tpke. right next to the 1904 grandstand in Old Westbury.
- Date of the photo
During the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race on October 8, 1904.
Comments (4)
Congrats to David Miller, Bob Barauskas, Steve Lucas and Art Kleiner for completely answering this weekend's mystery photo. Kudos to Art for his map images.
Greg O.
John Allen's refreshment stand the day of the race.
This section of the course was documented by Art Kleiner and myself back in November 2021.
As seen in this 1906 map, the grandstand and press box were directly in front of Thomas Hitchcock's Horse track on Jericho Tpke.
Overlay on to a more current aerial of the area.
1904
The grandstands along Jericho at the southern edge of the Hitchcock horse track under its September construction in the short 3 days given to build them before the 1904 race.
This view looking east towards the John Allen home at the intersection of Powell and Jericho.
Another great view of Jericho looking west from the top of John Allen's home.
1906
For the 1906 races, John Allen's home became the conveniently located HQ for the Vanderbilt Cup Commission.
Current View
This is a view of the grandstand site looking east today. The traffic light is at the Powells Lane intersection. A 7/11 store is on the right, ironically very near the site of Allen's 1904 refreshment stand/home.
Comments
This is John Allen’s home on Jericho Tpke near Powell Ln in Westbury. In 1906 it was the headquarters for the Vanderbilt Cup commission. Located at the site today is a bank and a gas station.
John Allen’s distinctive white home was located on Jericho Turnpike directly in front of Powells Lane. Note: a refreshment stand was set up on the Allen property for the 1904 race. On a banner across Allen’s lawn, Continental Tires promoted their use on the Mercedes racers.
In this September 1904 photo, the grandstand was under construction. Note the John Allen’s home in the background.
The John Allen home was located on the south side of the Motor Parkway, just east of the Grandstands,
That’s the house owned by John Allen on the south side of Jericho Turnpike across from Powells Lane in Westbury, a short walk east from the grandstand for the first Vanderbilt Cup Race. The photo was taken on October 8, 1904. Two years later the house served as the headquarters for the Vanderbilt Cup Commission during the 1906 race.
John Allen
Used as the Headquarters of the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Jericho Turnpike, Jericho
October 8, 1904