Vanderbilt Cup Races

Mystery Foto #31… This photo was taken at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Location was determined by seeing a “Hall of Fame” sign near the green door at top left. That along with the football pics on the walls led me to the website of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The auto is a 1920 Hupmobile R4 touring car. The reason that this and only this car is in the museum is because when they were forming the Pro Football Association (later the NFL) the owner of the Hupmobile dealership, a football team owner himself, offered the space of his show room for this meeting. This car is the same model as the one that sat in the showroom on that day, September 17, 1920.

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

I feel as if I’ve seen this before in an article, but can’t recall. Interesting, and looking forward to answer on Monday.

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

Correct. Typo in my text, Fixed! thanks for that catch!

From Greg O.'s Garage: Plans for the Meadowbrook Country Club Motor Parkway Bridge

Looking more closely at the map I realize now that I walked around the most southern portion between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road. Still, it’s all quite amazing when these finds are discovered. Even more amazing is that in the before the “preserve the wetlands” time these areas weren’t buried undergound in culverts. We can be thankful to the powers that be at the time to have preserve these green areas for our use.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

Greg, So,  isn’t that view to the north east ?

From Greg O.'s Garage: Plans for the Meadowbrook Country Club Motor Parkway Bridge

Canton OH. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Determined based on the artwork in the hall. Car is 1920 Hupmobile. The car was part of the history of the formation of the league. The internet is an amazing tool. I’ve never been to the HOF nor heard of the Hupmobile before this post. Thanks for the fun challenge.

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

Gary, thank you for your comments, and photos. They add to the overall picture and history tremendously and place it in a proper perspective time wise. Gives all of us a much better picture of “the way it was”.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

What a find! Hiked in the preserve many times as a kid. Who would have thought. I have to think “Speedway” is a bit of hype of the times. Looks more like a residential neighborhood.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

Al, It is. Wider shot below.

From Greg O.'s Garage: Plans for the Meadowbrook Country Club Motor Parkway Bridge

Greg,  At the left center of the photo showing the two bridges, isn’t that one of the polo fields ?

From Greg O.'s Garage: Plans for the Meadowbrook Country Club Motor Parkway Bridge

Howard
Contact me concerning the Challenger Falcon. I have some more photos of the car from an interview with Kim Haynes who was restoring it several years ago here in North Carolina. I did the interview at his shop.
I also interviewed and wrote a story on Marvin Panch, who remembered racing the car.
I still have those stories in my archives. Also think I have original PDF layouts used in our magazine.

Jerry Clemmons
Editor Members’ Parade
Hornets Nest Region AACA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
704 214 0249

From Updated: VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: The one-of-a-kind 1962 Holman Moody Challenger III is headed to the Waterfront at Roslyn Garage

Must have missed this over the holidays. 

This has got to be the clearest photo of the Mitchel Gardens development yet.  Originally built as a WPA project to house civilian employees at Mitchel Field, it was taken over after the War by the Air Force and used to house low ranking personnel through the mid ‘60’s. 

Kids living in those houses (more like shacks) went to Uniondale schools as the Uniondale School District extended as far North as Old Country Road.  Growing up on Mitchel Field proper, I can remember our school bus stopping at Mitchel Gardens as late as 1966.  The property was later used as drug rehab housing by the early ‘70’s and today is the site of the recycling plant on Stewart Ave. 

From Mystery Foto #49 Solved: A 1953 View over Merrick Avenue and East Meadow and Westbury

Nice find Art. I agree with Brian’s horse racing, but unlikely dog racing here on Long Island. The first location I’ve ever heard of dog racing was in the ‘70’s at Florida’s Hialeah Race Track in Miami. Gary’s historic views are priceless, that can be applied to further discoveries as well.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

That’s a 1920 Hupmobile Model R Touring located in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Museum. How did I know? Been there; seen it; took a picture; saved the brochure. The story is that the first meeting of the founders of the American Professional Football Association (later the NFL) met in a Hupmobile dealership owned by Ralph Hay in 1920 and since there were not enough chairs for all attendees, some of them sat on the running board of a car similar to this.

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

Football Hall of Fame - Canton, Ohio.  Determined by the posters on the walls. 
Hupp Motor Car Company, 1920 Hupmobile.

Reason for the car in the museum:
One of the organizers of the NFL (actually its various leagues early on) was Ralph Hays who owned a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio.  When Hays invited the team owners to organize a formal league, he held meetings in his showroom which had limited seating.  So several attendees sat in a 1920 Hupmobile on display and stood on the floorboards of the car.  Photos from Google and Hemmings. 

Have a good day, y’all!

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

-The location of the photo.  How did you determine the location?

Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio….If I told you how I found out, I’d have to kill you.

-The manufacturer, model and year of the automobile

1920 Hupmobile R

-Why is this automobile the only vehicle in this museum?

Ten charter NFL team owners gathered in Ralph Hay’s car showroom in Canton, Ohio, to form the NFL. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone. A few of the future owners of NFL franchises instead sat on the running boards of the Hupmobile in the dealership. When they were ready to sign the papers to establish the league, they leaned on the hood of the car to finish up.

From Mystery Foto #31 Solved: The 1920 Hupmobile at Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio

Interesting discovery, Art. Maybe dog or horse racing in the past? Time to check out some aerials. Know that I’m thinking about it, I recall seeing quite a few track ovals on older aerials throughout Long Island.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

Here’s some early photos of the Preserve and the original Museum Building when it was located on Sunrise Highway.  Notice the posts & twisted wire in the last photo of the path leading up to the museum!

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

As in the case of many other Nassau County owned parks and preserves, the property composing the Tackapausha Preserve was originally acquired for drainage purposes back in 1939.  The property contained 70 acres which controlled drainage along the 6 miles of the creek through Seaford. Trails were laid out and marked and the 1st Nassau County Museum opened in May 1947 to provide information on the natural history of the region.  At the time there wasn’t a Dept. of Recreation & Parks, instead all the properties were under the N.C. Dept. of Public Works (NCDPW).  All of this was happening even before the creation of Salisbury Park. 
I wouldn’t be surprised if those concrete posts were installed by NCDPW when it acquired the property.  They look like standard posts used along other roads and properties at the time.  Also, the 1935 map clearly states, “Proposed Lake Site”, so as is the case in so many maps, how much is proposed development versus actuality.  As an actual survey, that map shows it as a stream flowing from north to south.  The 1906 E. Belcher Hyde Nassau County Atlas shows the area as mainly owned by the Queens Land and Title Co. for future development.
Why was the museum named for Tackapausha?  Massapequa Sachem Tackapausha (aka Tackapousha) served as a mediator between the colonists and the Indians, eventually becoming the head Sachem of western Long Island between the 1640’s and 1690’s.  In 1947 it seemed like a fitting remembrance to him.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Mysterious Seaford "Speedway" (posts and all!)

Howard:
Thanks for posting this information on Mark Dill’s work; I also read Mark’s blog site regularly. It’s important that we keep automotive history alive and relevant. I didn’t realize that he and I live close to each other; I’m contacting him to get a copy of the book.

From Excerpt from "The Legend of the First Super Speedway": Barney Oldfield at the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race