Vanderbilt Cup Races

Al - I forgot to mention regarding photographer’s position of the mystery photo (likely 1928-30), shows the west bridge in the foreground (Polo bridge) under construction, with the east bridge in the background (Sheeps Pen Road) already built in 1908. The mystery photo also shows the left embankment wall brightly lit (facing the south sky), with the right wall shaded (facing the north sky). You are correct about the unimportant removal of any of these bridges, being in their remote location.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

Nice exploration guys! I’ve yet to visit this area. Amazing the parkway here remains preserved after 110+ years, sleeping quietly and left undisturbed. The pic with the two-three foot extensions is very cool. Thanks for the update and for sharing. Stay healthy and safe!

From Sammy & Dave's "Excellent 2020 Vanderbilt Day": Scouting the South Side of Westbury Avenue in Mineola/Carle Place

The LIRR crossed over the LIMP in Albertson, Mineola, and at Central Ave in Bethpage.  The LIRR crossed under the LIMP at current day Bell Blvd in Queens.  Although, I do not believe it was ever active at this location. 

All three LIRR bridges over the parkway were accompanied by the power cables we see in this picture.  In both Albertson and Mineola the power tower seems accurately placed.  In Bethpage there is a tower north of the tracks, but I feel it is too far removed from the tracks.  But more importantly these power lines in the picture cross the tracks.  In Albertson they come from the north and turn at this power tower.  To me, that makes this picture the Mineola LIRR bridge of the LIMP.  The picture being taken from near Glen Cove Rd, looking west. 

-joe o

From Mystery Foto #18 Solved : A Train Passing the Mineola LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge Heading East

On the 1917 map Art provided, A.R.‘s house was located just north of Main Street, above and about midway between the I and T in SMITHTOWN. Oakwell was just west of the present LIRR trestle over Main and the Smithtown Bull, but the house was demolished for a restaurant—it would be nice if someday a commemorative marker could be placed at that location in honor of A.R’s work. A.R. enjoyed a beautiful view of the Nissequogue River near the Riverside Inn and Riverside Garage, where in 1912, he photographed more than a dozen automobiles during one of Fred Wagner’s annual picnics for the auto industry held from 1911 to 1922 at his Smithtown property and later at his home called ‘Sunnybrook’. Pardington first bought land in Smithtown in 1909; petitioned the Town Board to allow the extension of the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway into Smithtown in 1910; and by 1911, A.R., the man whose family credited him with inventing the checkered flag, and Fred Wagner the first man photographed waving the checkered flag at the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race, were relocating their families to the new suburbia, reached via the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway!

From The Residence of the Starter of Five Vanderbilt Cup Races -Fred Wagner- Rediscovered in Smithtown

Good catch Brian! On top of Polo Field bridge looking west down Motor Parkway, towards the Garden City lodge (1.4 miles) Aug 1950. As Frank Mendyk once commented, many trees planted to surround the Polo Grounds! Credit: Newsday, Howard Edwards via Art Kleiner.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

Brian, I am now convinced that the 1951 photo was definitely taken from the bridge built by the Parkway in 1907/1908 to carry the Sheeps Pen Road over the Parkway. I could not uncover anything regarding the removal of the bridge prior to when the photo was taken. There was no pressure on Nassau County to take down the bridge since the Sheeps Pen Rd. road in that area was officially abandoned 1933. I am further of the opinion that the bridge did not come down until a little later when Moses built that section of the Meadowbrook Parkway in the bed of Motor Parkway ROW.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

Frank, Newspapers of the day reported the grandstand was fully occupied (mostly society folks) and spectators around the field were five deep Not all visitors came by autos, most came out from the city by train. That day the LIRR ran trains from Brooklyn and Manhattan on an as needed basis, sometimes only 10-15 minutes apart. The trains after unloading, were parked on nearby spurs ready to take passengers back west.  A good analogy regarding parking, crowd control ,the LIRR etc. today would be the Belmont Stakes and the major golf events at Bethpage.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

This is the Motor Parkway bridge over the LIRR Main Line east of Mineola. The photographer is looking West and the train is traveling East. The high tension tower in the distance just to the South of the tracks and adjacent to the bridge correlates to current Google Earth views of the transmission towers. Indeed, there is a current road in that area south of the tracks named Vanderbilt Dr. I am sure that is no coincidence. Steam engine 112 is a class H10 2-8-0 freight locomotive acquired by the LIRR from parent PRR between 1928 and 1930. The lack of development along the ROW suggests that the date is pre-WWII.

From Mystery Foto #18 Solved : A Train Passing the Mineola LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge Heading East

From Art Kleiner:
Thanks for the additional information, Corey!  I found Auto Avenue as you noted in the Belcher Hyde Map of 1913. Do you know exactly where Pardington’s Oakwell home is actually located?

From The Residence of the Starter of Five Vanderbilt Cup Races -Fred Wagner- Rediscovered in Smithtown

Looks like the main line travelling eastbound from the Mineola Motor Parkway Bridge. The train is engine 112 and the only other choice i would have picked for a possibility would be the Central Ave Bridge but thats on an angle so this looks like its going from Mineola to Westbury. Guessing this photo is in the late 30s or 1940s as the power line tower is next to the bridge where it still is today.

From Mystery Foto #18 Solved : A Train Passing the Mineola LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge Heading East

Great info as always Al, that show many inconveniences back then that we take for granted today (lack of roads for one). Motor Pkwy offering a traffic alternative for a $0.50 toll ($9.10 today), I believe would’ve been too costly for most, where one still had to maneuver their way towards the Merrick Ave entrance to fulfill the quest. I’m not sure where 45k spectators were permitted to park, but with the separate polo field entrances being 0.35 miles apart, I wonder if they walked in the dirt after parking at the Hunt Club, or perhaps walked the concrete path towards the east bridge, then crossed over the west bridge for access?

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

  The train is westbound at Bethpage on Track1 with a manifest freight of empty
cars or a few more deliveries in on the way in to Holban Yard. The locomotive is a
Brooks 2-8-0 and it served its days from 1928 to the end of steam power in 1955.
  The LIMP traversed over the LIRR at: 1/ Williston Park over to Roslyn, 2/Bethpage in this photo and 3/ Mineola to Carle Place.  #1./ is on the Oyster Bay Branch and the others are on the main line.  The year of the photo is probably the 30;s or 40’s.
The photographer is standing on the east bound side of the railroad.

From Mystery Foto #18 Solved : A Train Passing the Mineola LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge Heading East

I absolutely see 1 bridge over the former LIMP in Howard’s 1951 aerial. My best answer is that it belonged to the Polo Club. The elevated image viewing East within the 1951 Newsday article had to be captured from the still remaining bridge, the “cheat/jug handle path” on the northside of the barricade is evident in both images. I recall a 1950 elevated image viewing west from the still remaining bridge. Art Kleiner submitted this image as a Mystery Foto a while back.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

Thanks Gary, you explained what I just learned : ) Jamaica must be an interesting area.

From Kleiner's Korner: The Motor Parkway in Maps - Part IV

Frank, You were on target about the probability of horses using the west bridge to access the fields, a friend who is a polo fan pointed out that the horse stables were located on the south side of Stewart Ave. He also pointed out that in 1930, the first time the fields were used for the International polo matches, the first match drew 45,000 spectators

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

Thank you, Art for that article – a real find. Indeed, when Wagner retired from the Horseless Age, he began writing for House Beautiful magazine wherein he wrote about his own ‘House Beautiful’ when it was completed in Smithtown. When he bought the property, it was on what the 1909 Belcher Hyde Map called Auto Avenue (perhaps in anticipation of Fred’s interest in the area). By the summer of 1913, Auto Avenue was called Edgewater Avenue; and it was only a few minutes walk east of A.R. Pardington’s family home Oakwell. Fred’s home in Smithtown is considered nationally significant and is the only example of the Van Guilder concrete construction method (double wall sandwiching insulating air between, thermos-bottle style) used by Stickley in the United States. There is a pattern of starter flags in the brick headers above the Living Room hearth, a feature illustrating why Stickley wrote in his Craftsman magazine about how he designed the house with the Wagners‘ participation.

From The Residence of the Starter of Five Vanderbilt Cup Races -Fred Wagner- Rediscovered in Smithtown

From Art Kleiner:
Nice job, Dave - I haven’t been there in probably 7 years - one time I went there and a few homeless folks were there so I didn’t stay too long (e.g. didn’t look like Motor Parkway enthusiasts).  But here’s some pics from my website page.  Not sure if these relics remain. 
https://www.freewebs.com/limparkway/mineolawestburyaveso.htm

From Sammy & Dave's "Excellent 2020 Vanderbilt Day": Scouting the South Side of Westbury Avenue in Mineola/Carle Place

Brian, On April 8th 1944, Newsday reported Nassau County authorized the removal of the “steel and concrete bridge” over the Motor Parkway with the Meadowbrook Land Co.  agreeing to it’s removal.  I’m sure it happened quickly. At the time some of the old Motor parkway bridges were taken down for their war time scrap metal value. Regarding the Sheep’s Pen Road. It got it’s name for the many sheep farms in the Westbury area a couple hundred years ago. The road ran from the Old Country Rd and Merrick Ave vicinity in a southwest direction to Hempstead Village.  Though lightly used, Hempstead Town required the Parkway to bridge it which they did in 1907/08. During WWI the Govt. closed down the dirt road south of Stewart Ave. After that, it was hardly used at all.  Part of the road still exists today, it is now called Westbury Road,  it’s eastern terminus at Oak St., Garden City.  Also, take a look at the two 1927/Lindbergh photos, south of the Parkway there’s no road heading straight south from the Motor Parkway bridge.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway

I believe the so-called Peace Monument actually refers to the Jamaica Civil War Monument dedicated in 1896 (see attached postcards).  Originally located at Hillside & Bergen Avenues, it was moved in 1960 to Major Mark Park.  Look at NYC Parks website for more info.: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/major-mark-park/monuments/1464

From Kleiner's Korner: The Motor Parkway in Maps - Part IV

Frank, The 1936 aerial clearly shows a well defined roadway from Stewart Ave. north that goes over the east bridge It also appears the roadway is paved as it is the same color of Stewart Ave.  The international polo matches were held on these fields,drawing crowds as large as 30,000 spectators. The only access to these fields was from Stewart Ave.  Which approach to the polo fields from Stewart Ave. was in better condition to handle the crowds. Also, the horses used in these matches were brought in by trucks and trailers. Another also. The Parkway had a special one way 50 cent ticket from the west to the matches exiting at the Meadow brook Lodge. The same was the case for motorists heading west from the Meadowbrook Lodge.

From Updated: Mystery Foto #17 Solved: The Meadowbrook Polo Club Bridge over the Motor Parkway