Vanderbilt Cup Races

Dec 19 2008
A Nassau County Tour of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Several people have requested maps of the path of the 44-mile Long Island Motor Parkway to explore for remnants of the America's first automobile road and its ever-present parkway concrete posts. To help these LIMP fans, I have put together routes in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties using a 1940 map showing the Long Island Motor Parkway right-of-way. In the second of a three-part series, click here for a pdf of the Nassau County LIMP map. The Suffolk County map will follow in a few days. (2 comments)

Dec 17 2008
A Queens Tour of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Many viewers have requested maps of the Long Island Motor Parkway so they can walk this historical road and find remnants of America's first parkway. I have put together routes in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties using a 1940 map which still showed the Long Island Motor Parkway right-of-way. In the first of a three-part series, Click here for a pdf of the Queens LIMP map. Nassau County and Suffolk County maps will follow over the next week. (0 comments)

Dec 16 2008
Sampling of Recent Blog Comments

Comments on the Blog posts are encouraged and much appreciated. Below are a sampling. (0 comments)

Dec 15 2008
VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: New Queens LIMP Signage

Along the right-of-way of the Long Island Motor Parkway, there are several historical plaques that commemorate the road. Unfortunately, many of the plagues provide misinformation and often mistakenly call the road the "Vanderbilt Motor Parkway". Wrong!!! For several months, historian Bob Miller has tried to correct and expand the Motor Parkway signs in Queens. Bob is pleased to announce the following news: (0 comments)

Dec 15 2008
Video:“The Long Island Motor Parkway” with Robert Miller

In 2007, Queens historian Robert Miller with Fred Hadley put together this excellent 21-minute tour of the Long Island Motor Parkway from Lake Ronkonkoma to Queens. (1 comments)

Dec 14 2008
The LIMP Bridge over Stewart Avenue in Bethpage

Dr. Mark D. has emailed me the following request: I am looking for views of the LIMP bridge over Stewart Avenue in Bethpage, the outer bank is still standing with roadway. I rode my bike on that section as a kid. (0 comments)

Dec 13 2008
Film: Chaplin, Normand, Sennett and the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race

The best documentation of the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race is a Mack Sennett-produced slapstick comedy starring Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin and Charlie Chaplin called Mabel at the Wheel. Actual scenes of the race, won by Ralph DePalma in a Mercedes, were used as part of the film. A 2008 book Chaplin by Dr. Stephen Weissman has detailed the significance of this film in the careers of Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett: (0 comments)

Dec 12 2008
Was This Building The Prototype for the LIMP Toll Lodges?

The first six toll lodges for the Long Island Motor Parkway were designed by the prominent architect John Russell Pope from 1908 to 1911. Prior to receiving this commssion from William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., Pope worked on various Long Island estates and properties including the gatehouse for Willie K's Deepdale estate. One of Pope's most important early commission's was the William L. Stow Residence in Old Westbury designed from 1900 to 1903. The estate was "designed in the manner of an Italian… (1 comments)

Dec 09 2008
The Mineola Lodge and the Long Island Motor Parkway

In the new book The Long Island Motor Parkway written by Al Velocci and me, there were over 200 published images of this historic road, many shown for the very first time. However, several unique images were left on the editing floor due to either quality or space issues. Over the next few weeks, VanderbiltCupRaces.com will be posting these images. The first image in this series was rejected by our publisher because of the quality of the scan from a magazine. The above image was found by Al… (0 comments)

Dec 09 2008
The Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge over Willis Avenue in Willison Park

Tony B. of Mineola has requested views of the Willis Avenue area of the Long Island Motor Parkway. The above 1930s image of the Long Island Motor Parkway bridge over Willis Avenue is the only known existing photo of this section. The photo is courtesy of Bob Valentine. Thanks, Bob! (3 comments)