Vanderbilt Cup Races

Billy & Blog Viewers - I believe the Newsday articles below from 1941 is the drowning that Billy asked about. This whole event had a happy outcome. 2 - First Grade children - David Clarke and Helen Herte, walking home ( Fordham St Williston Park ) from school. They encountered the Sand Pit. Helen decided to slide down the pit towards the water, she dropped in. David pulled her out, rescued her from drowning. Maybe I’ll search them again to see if they married later in life : ) The first 2 articles describe this happening, 3rd article tells of the dangers due to no fencing around various Sand Pits.

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Billy - The wooded area within the park ( see it on the last aerial image above ) was a Gravel Pit. Pond was created due to the mining. I haven’t been in there, but aerials & street maps still show a depression & water. Guess this area is fenced in, maybe it became a drainage basin?
Just west of the park, next to Searingtown Rd, is Herricks Pond ( St George’s Lake )

Unless someone knows of the this off hand, think we could find out more about a drowning with a newspaper search. On the web, there’s NYS Historic Newspapers & Newsday Archives, both free.

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Does anyone have any past pictures of Caemmerer Park. There was supposedly a lake next to motor parkway where the park is. I heard a child drowned in the lake back around 1943. Looking for more pictures and info on this.
Thanks

From Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #4 Albertson

Well at first I thought this was an electric vehicle with extra batteries mounted vertically in front of the driver.  Then I saw the caps and realized they were oddly placed double radiators.  So then this must be the 1906 Maxwell with the 180 hp 12 cylinder horizontal engine.  A unique innovation at the time (and maybe very distant precursor to the boxer engine in my Subaru).  The driver was supposed to be J. Fred Betz in the 1906 American Elimination trial race but due to insufficient time for testing it never ran in competition.

From Mystery Friday Foto #38 Solved: The 12-cylinder Maxwell built for the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Nice to see all the races in one film, and also liked how they superimposed the old TV set on the video. Nice job putting this together : )

From Film: The Vanderbilt Cup Races (1904-1965)

I pass that every day and have wondered if it is but I’m pretty sure it is not. I would say its just a concrete apron poured for an entrance to the sump. You can see how it stops at the gate. The way it flares out on the right side makes you think it could have been the LIMP as it swung southeast to the Stewart Line but it also flares on the left side (not shown in the photo) so there goes that theory. The location looks about dead-on in relation to where the LIMP crosses Bloomingdale Rd.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

Yea Dan, that is exactly the piece I was talking about exiting from the sump to Polaris.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

False alarm lol. The darker spaces along the game board are ‘problem spaces’

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Below is a image of the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Board Game ( 8/12/2011 Blog )  I know the Oldsmobile Race Team didn’t qualify. I wonder if the dark areas ( writing within ) display the headquarters for each racing team? Wording too small to read.

You came through, Gary Hammond : )

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Gary, that deserves kudos!

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

According to the attached articles, Ernest Keeler’s garage was in Westbury.  I also attached an interesting article about a race in Long Beach along the beach, reminiscent of Howard’s beach race.  The Newspaper’s date & name is in the jpg id.

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Is this the piece that’s left? This would be the exit of the eastern sump on Polaris, right before Bloomingdale.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

If anyone would know, it’s you Dave!

After noticing they were both sumps now, I considered that they’d be dug out as well. Too bad. Nassau County has been losing more and more pavement by the minute making this discovery in Bethpage that much more special. I’m also happy that the owners are now well-aware of his historic nature of their backyard and as long as they are in the home, it is somewhat safe.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

I’ve been in there. There’s nothing in there. It’s a sump so they dug everything out. There was one spot along the ballfield fence where a small piece of LIMP remained, I thought I took a picture of it but I can’t find it.

After you go through the first sump, there is another baseball field, then another sump and then the LIMP turns to exit out by Polaris Dr - and I recall a small LIMP piece in that area, right before it reaches Polaris Dr.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

Brian- (Greg here on Howard’s computer)Myself, Howard, and Art have scoured the Internet and all the hardbound reference books in the office archives searching for a clue, but since the Olds didn’t do so well in the trials, there’s not much info out there on the team. The above article was the closest mention of the team HQ’s that I’ve found.

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Brian- Technically we’re not allowed in there since it’s a Nassau Co. sump.
According to this 1966 aerial, the sump next to the ‘new Polaris Field’, immediately to the east, might also be a great place to explore if accessible.
I might have to make a visit…

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

I never was inside that sump area, Greg. Going by your aerial, it’s possible that the pavement may be existing.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

This really appears to be someone’s residence with an attached garage, right off a main road. The article above details all but Oldsmobile, deep search in order.

From Mystery Friday Foto #37 solved: The Oldsmobile headquarters for a 1906 American Elimination Trial racer

Question to the MotorParkway explorers;

Has anyone explored the wooded area (circled in red) between the Polaris ball fields in Levittown? If sections were left under the ballfields, it stands to reason there may be an undisturbed section in the woods.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered

You know, I sent in the question about [address private]., with kind of a disclaimer stating that I was apologizing for possibly rehashing something that had been reviewed several times. It’s cool to know it was not. Thank you to Greg for the reconnaissance work, as it was pretty mint to see it for real in 2022. Google Maps is a valuable instrument…I feel better know that I know I use my phone for more than fantasy hockey, my Stop N’ Shop card, and the McDonald’s app.

From Greg O's Garage: A section of Motor Parkway in Bethpage rediscovered