About
The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.
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Co-Founder and Writer: Howard Kroplick
Co-Founder: Dana Kroplick
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Recent Comments
Unfortunately, didn’t see anything here in this part of the Villages, there was a partial not to far in Leesburg, they estimated wrong, we were supposed to get it.
From The Sun at East Hills, New York at 2:43 PM and the Total Eclipse Seen in Oregon
Can never get enough photos! I like to enlarge them and study closely,,,
From Mystery Foto #32 Solved: A 1950 Image of the Motor Parkway Looking West to the LILCO Gas Tank
Wow! The sky didn’t darken like this over by us ( Lake Ronkonkoma ).
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Howard Kroplick
Brian, the sky did not darken as much. I placed a filter on my camera.
From The Sun at East Hills, New York at 2:43 PM and the Total Eclipse Seen in Oregon
Wild guessing, this jumbo map is located at Hempstead Town Hall at 1 Washington Street.
Dotted lines in the bays are township division lines, and dotted lines on the sound are ferry routes.
Airports: (12)
La Guardia airport – open
Flushing airport – closed
Floyd Bennet field – closed
Jamaica airport (Idlewild, JFK) – open
Manhassett Neck airport – closed
Mitchel field – closed
American Republic airport (Republic) – open
Sayville field – closed
Patchogue airport – closed
Southhampton airport – closed
Easthampton airport - closed
Montauk airport - open
Many name changes:
Swezy is now Calverton
Fireplace Neck is now Bellport…..
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
I can answer the first question. The map is on the north wall of the auditorium of W.C. Mepham High School in North Bellmore. It dates from 1937 when the building was constructed.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
Mystery Foto #33, addendum… After griping about the low-res map photo I realized that I hadn’t opened the close ups. Sorry about that. Still can’t find the miss-spellings but I do find seven airfields… Brentwood airport, Jamaica South, Flushing airport, Islip field, American airport, Mitchell Field, Floyd Bennet field.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
Mystery Foto #33… The large Long Island map is located in the auditorium of Mepham High School in Bellmore, NY. Can’t read most of the wording on the map so can’t find the miss-spellings. Can’t find airfields on this map. Photo seems to be low resolution. I will guess that the dotted lines on the sound and the bays (can’t see them in the image) are ferry routes. The map was restored in 1977 at a cost of $36,000.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
While I have no idea where the map is located (and I would like to visit it), nor the history of it, the references to, and highlight of, North Merrick are quite intriguing.
I believe that there are eleven airports shown on the map.
The dotted lines are ferry routes.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
Very nice to see such an early car this nicely preserved. Give us notification if you find out when It’s up and running.
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
Being a south shore fellow from the tiny waterfront hamlet of east rockaway five miles east of the queens border and twenty miles south of the roslyn viaduc i am familiar with my local. Rockville centre is not spelled rockville center as in the photo of the giant map. Is that map in a court jury waiting room?
Reminds me of another old map you must check out in the brookville traffic court. It is a map of all the horse trails connecting all the old north shore estates. It may include the vanderbuilt parkway or components of it.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
16ft x 80ft! This map would literally extend from my garage to the opposite side of my street! OK, here I go:
*Map Location: The auditorium of Wellington C. Mepham High School, Bellmore NY. After enough searching on the Internet, I can’t recall what led me to this high school. The “Blue Star” in Bellmore marks the location of the high school.
*Villages Misspelled/Incorrectly Named: Nassau County- East Meadow ( Meadaw ). Suffolk County- Sweezy ( Swezy ). On the map, “Swezy” is just N/W of Riverhead. I think that Sweezy was a village or hamlet in the vicinity of Riverhead. There is a “Sweezy Pond” between County Rd 51 and County Rd 63.
# of Airfields: 12 ( Red Stars ).
*Representation of Dotted Lines on LI Sound/Bays: Village/Town/County boundaries.
*History of Map: I couldn’t find any solid proof on how this map was created. The High School was officially open 9/1937. My best guess is that the students/staff worked on building this map during that time period? I find the following a bit interesting….The lower section of the map frame is worded: NORTH MERRICK THE VIRTUE LIES IN THE STRUGGLE NOT THE PRIZE NORTH BELLMORE…..The lower border below the windows on the opposite wall is worded: BELLMORE THE FOUNDATION OF EVERY STATE IS THE EDUCATION OF ITS YOUTH MERRICK
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
In answer to the year of the license plate,it looks to me it’s 41
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
As already stated by Sam, please more details on its journey to Berlin…
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
Wow!!! The car is in amazing condition. They’re smart NOT to restore the car. It’s fantastic as it is.
Rog
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
The map mural is located in the auditorium of Mepham High School in Bellmore, NY. There are a few villages that I don’t think ever existed, at least I never heard of them. Among them are Roanoke, New Village, and Swezy. Port Jefferson seems to be identified as being further east than it really is. I believe I counted 11 airfields: Floyd Bennett; Flushing; Jamaica; Mitchell; Brentwood Flying Field; Sayville; Patchogue Airport; Southampton; Montauk; and American Airport which looks like it might be Republic. The dotted lines are ferry routes. The map was restored by the Mepham High School Alumni Association and may at one time have hung in a restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
Howard,
My wife and I just visited the Tucker exhibit at the AACA Museum a couple of weeks ago. Fantastic exhibit!!!
Rog
From The Featured Car at the 1981 Hershey AACA National Fall Meet- The Tucker '48 #1044
An auditorium that large is most likely at SUNY Stony Brook. I can’t read the details but dotted lines on the water are most likely ferry routes (or spilled popcorn or chum lines). There’s a similar 5’ long 1928 soils map at the offices of SPLIA (Society for the Preservation of LI Antiquities) in Cold Spring Harbor which I documented at <http://sbiii.com/limpmaps.html#soilsmap>. There’s also a large WWI map at the Cradle of Aviation Museum which I document further down on that same page, <http://sbiii.com/limpmaps.html#WWILIMap>. By the way, what is that wild little jog at Bedford Avenue in Hauppauge (detail “n” on the first map - <http://sbiii.com/limppix/soilmapn.jpg>) all about? Sam, III
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
Not a comment (other than “WOW!”) but could we please have a higher-resolution shot showing the year of the NY license plate (or just the date itself) and the story of how the car got from LI to Berlin? Sam, III
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
From the photos, it would appear to have little rust or corrosion on the body proper or wear to the upholstery. The mechanical parts, that is the big question. Corrosion from the old oil is a problem that will have to be addressed.
From The Mystery Mercedes Owned by the Astor Family Found in Berlin, Germany
Map is in the auditorium of Mepham High School in North Bellmore. Some clues leading my investigation were mentions of North Bellmore and North Merrick on the bottom part of the frame and those villages being highlighted on the map. A good friend’s kids graduated from Mepham - have to ask them about it.
Dotted lines would be ferry crossings.
I see Plainview shown as Plain View, didn’t do much more examining.
Airfields: 9 (possibly 10)
Flushing Airport, Jamaica Airport, Floyd Bennett Field, Mitchell Field, American Airport (a.k.a Seversky Airport), Islip Airport, Brentwood Airport, Patchogue Aiport, Suffolk Airport (Southampton) and my possibility making 10 would be the Montauk Seaplane area (also may have been marked by a star).
From documentation sent to Howard the map was bought by the Merrick/Bellmore School District (from the Waldorf Astoria?) for placement in the newly constructed Mepham HS in 1937. It was painted in canvas on off-site sections. Restoration was performed in 2007 by Sherman Art Conversation with almost $40,000 donations having been received.
From Mystery Foto #33 Solved: The World's Largest Map of Long Island Located at Mepham High School
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