Vanderbilt Cup Races

From Art: Thanks for fact-checking Sam!  Duly noted and changes made.

From Kleiner's Korner: Documentation of the Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges in Nassau County (#43-#52)

Looking west down Stewart Avenue Garden City.
Building A is Nassau Community College( now)
Building B is near Garden City Bowl/near old Meadowbrook Polo Club
Building C is Stewart School, which I attended for grades 4-6
BuildingD, no clue.
Structure near Building E( a factory) is the Lilco Gas tank.
Airplanes are in Mitchell Field
The gold club is the Old Westbury Golf Club(formerly Intercollegiate)
The Railroad is the Garden City-Mitchell Field connector off of the LIRR
Year is early 1950s, after Meadobrook Polo Club left, before Roosevelt Field Mall developed

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1951 Aerial View of Mitchel Field & the Motor Parkway & 2017 Circus Trains

Orientation is facing West.

Major roads from left to right, Miller Avenue., Bane Road (Wheeler Ave. west of that and Commercial Ave. even farther west).

The LIRR Central Line built by Alexander Stewart.  Ellington Ave. East (and Ellington Ave. West, west of that - Channel 21’s tower would one day stand at the end of it.  Today, townhomes are there.). 

North Road (now gone and populated by apartments) and Stewart Avenue.  LIMP is north of that and can be seen curving towards Clinton St. near the LIMP Lodge (roughly in line with the South Ring Road at Roosevelt Field today).

Major Buildings at Mitchel Field: Building A - Visiting Airmen’s Quarters (Bradley Hall).  Also visible is the PX (now NCC Bookstore)  and the Non Commissioned Officer’s Club next to it, next to Selfridge Ave.  Bldg. 104 and the one west of that which would become NCC’s North Hall are as seen as well.  Coal silos in the distance.  NCO Gymnasium and Pool too.

Temporary wooden barracks constructed with the outbreak of War along Stewart Ave. would later be classrooms at NCC, though many were torn down to provide parking in the area to alleviate complaints about students parking in front of Military homes nearby.

In the distance, the LILCO Gas Heats Best tower is obvious.  Building E in front of it may have been the A&P distribution warehouse by the railroad siding.  Newsday building adjacent to the tower.  Building C is the Curtis factory in Garden City. 

Planes would be to the left of the photo along the Flight Line, though a few can be seen on the taxiway at the extreme northern tip of the last concrete runway constructed not far from Commercial Ave. 

Golf Course was located in the extreme southwest corner of what is generally regarded today at Roosevelt Field and environs, hugging Garden City. 

Railroad siding near Building D where it crosses Stewart Ave. is where Quentin Roosevelt Blvd. now is.  Gulf service station at that intersection has not yet been built.  Across the street from where it would be constructed appears to be a private residence, not connected with the Base. 

As for the date, barracks mean it’s after 1941.  Lack of Endo Labs in the bottom right corner indicates it’s pre 1963.  Baseball diamond on the Quad suggests in could be 1950’s.  780’ low cinder platform on the LIRR means it’s likely before service was terminated on the line in 1953 (other than once a night service to Roosevelt Raceway).  Presence of Building B is pre Garden City Bowling Alley.  Extreme small size of trees across the Base could be from 1940’s.  Lack of Meadowbrook Parkway is pre 1956.  Polo Field in the extreme bottom left is pre MSP too.

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1951 Aerial View of Mitchel Field & the Motor Parkway & 2017 Circus Trains

Breath taking and most historic photo images are presented in this Long Island Parkway Bridge Series #43. You never disappoint us, Thank you for the superb scholarship and stupendous posts provided each week. Jonathan Richards in Chesterfield, Missouri.
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Howard Kroplick
Jonathan, thanks so much for the feedback! Much appreciated.

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series #43: Massapequa-Hicksville Motor Parkway Bridge in Plainedge

Fraud!  Fake news! Misrepresentation!  #53 Clody Farmway Bridge (Melville Sand Pits) is in Suffolk County (the county line is at the fence between the Restoration and the sand pits)!  Sam, III

From Kleiner's Korner: Documentation of the Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges in Nassau County (#43-#52)

Looking west along Stewart Avenue, with the ubiquitous LILCO gas holder at top, from above Merrick or Whaleneck Avenue.  The LIMP is the dark line at right. The planes are on Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2/Mitchel Field.  Roads - Stewart and LIMP as noted, Commercial to the left/south of the tracks, Hazelhurst around the oval, Clinton across the very top.  A is the post HQ.  B - base hospital?.  C - the Stewart Elementary School.  D - General Bronze?  E - U. S. Marine Corps(?) with gas holder.  The tracks are the former Central RR of LI/LIRR Central Branch/MTA-LIRR Meadowbrook Secondary; forgot the GC name.  Date immediately prior to WWII - monoplanes on field and lack of development along north side of Stewart.  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1951 Aerial View of Mitchel Field & the Motor Parkway & 2017 Circus Trains

LIMP is on the right.  Top to bottom.  Follow the LIMP up to Roosevelt Field, and down to the Meadowbrook Lodge. 

Building E is the Gas Tower.

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1951 Aerial View of Mitchel Field & the Motor Parkway & 2017 Circus Trains

The photographer is looking west.

The Motor Parkway is in the upper right-hand corner of the picture. It is visible as a faint line that curves to the right at the very top.

Airplanes can be seen at the upper left, west of the buildings that are today Nassau Community College. They can be seen in the first closeup.

Building A is Bradley Hall of Nassau Community College. I have no idea about Buildings B, C, and D. Building E looks like the Garden City postal distribution center.

The most important road in the Foto is Stewart Avenue from lower right to upper center. Also identifiable are Selfridge Avenue, Ellington Avenue, Wheeler Avenue, Hazelhurst Avenue, and Duncan Avenue (Hazelhurst and Duncan form the horseshoe). Upper left, between the planes and the postal distribution center, is Commercial Avenue.

The railroad is the old LIRR Central Branch (aka the Stewart Branch) a bit to the right of the horseshoe. The golf course, to the north (right) of the Motor Parkway, is the Old Westbury Golf Club. It was sold to developers in 1950.

The Foto had to be taken around 1950, perhaps a bit before, because the golf course is there and there is no apparent construction of Roosevelt Field shopping center, which opened in 1956. Also, the planes appear to be ‘40s vintage.

I went over to the college in 2017 to snap some pictures of the circus train, which parked on the Central Branch whenever the circus was at Nassau Coliseum. The circus went out of business after the 2017 Coliseum shows. I wanted to capture a bit of history.
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Howard Kroplick

Albert, these photos are amazing! Thanks so much for sharing!

From Mystery Foto #8 Solved: A 1951 Aerial View of Mitchel Field & the Motor Parkway & 2017 Circus Trains

Felice’s?  OMG!  I’d forgotten all about it.  Wonder if the Greentree, up Post Avenue, wasn’t also used by the sporting set?  Seems to me that Whaleneck Road and Merrick Avenue were two different roads, with WR just west of MA, as shown on my Central Nassau page <http://sbiii.com/limpcns1.html>.  See also George Thane’s aerial on my VCR page <http://sbiii.com/limpvcup.html> (where I conflated them in the text).  Other images are lost so HELP, please!  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)

Art, Re: the Red lion Inn… On the postcards T.E. Coffey is listed as manager. In 1919 Nat Chester replaced him. Prior to 1912 it was known as the Elverton Inn which opened in 1908. The Red Lion Inn burnt down in 1927

From Kleiner's Korner: The Long Island Motor Parkway in Advertising Part I

Timothy,  Red lion Inn from 1912 to 1927. That year it burnt down. Prior to 1912 was known as the Elverton Inn.

From MysteryFoto #18 Solved: An Abandoned Hotel on Little Neck Parkway and Northern Boulevard in 1926

Excellent observation Howard. That looks like the LIMP approach to the Merrick Av bridge, most definitely. I missed it.

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)

Any history on the Red Lion Inn?  When did it close?
________________________________________________

Howard Kroplick

Here you go:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_30_a_buidling_on_the_vanderbilt_cup_race_course

From MysteryFoto #18 Solved: An Abandoned Hotel on Little Neck Parkway and Northern Boulevard in 1926

One more pic from a 1927 map of Westbury.

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)

Facebook Page: People who grew up in East Meadow

Howard Kroplick: Does anyone remember the restaurant Felice on the corner of Merrick Avenue and Old Country Road?
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Jacqueline Rubin: I had dinner there in the early 60’s. Nice place.

Adam Schaefer: Cafe Bacci on the corner of Merrick Ave and Old Country Rd, used to be a quick serve Chinese place called Rickshaw.

Myk Mäyo: Adam Schaefer my dad used to take us there all the time in the mid 80’s. The Baci sign in front still has a decidedly Asian look to it.

Richie Shor I remember it as a young kid going with my parents for dinner.

Gene Scheinberg: Sure my dad’s favorite…garlic bread knots in little paper bags

Julie Standish Mangano: My parents favorite when they were flush with cash, which wasn’t often.

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)

Too funny, Brian; I was about to riposte with a current view of the magnificent stands of pine along the lakeshore and went on Google Maps Street View out at the ends of North and South Drives and Brown’s Road and Kirk Avenue.  The pines are nearly all gone, replaced by massive deciduous trees, so the changeover had to have happened a good while back and I never noticed.  Still, I remember mounds of pine needles when I first photographed the remanent steps down to the lake, behind the ruins, ca. 1995.  Soooo old - did a quick look-up; first started biking the Roslyn Road-LIRR stretch (lotsa glass, lotsa flats) ca. 1962; no idea when Bob Miller gave his first LIMP slide show, to which he’d invited me and which got me going.  Sam, III

From Kleiner's Korner: The Long Island Motor Parkway in Advertising Part I

Consider contacting David McCullough “The Wright Brothers” Simonandschuster.com and Dawn Dewey, Archivist Wright State Univ Dayton, OH 937-775-2011

I am the archivist at the Wright “B” Flyer, Inc Archivist Dayton Wright Brothers Airport 10555 Springboro Pike Miamisburg, OH 45342

From Seven Upcoming Automotive Events (August 12-13, 2012) & A Mystery Medallion

I’m embarrassed that I didn’t have a clue about any of the questions, because I traveled the Merrick Ave./Post Ave. route many times as a youngster, from our home in Merrick to relatives in Locust Valley, and have eaten in the Baci restaurant.

Now that I see the pictures, I recognize the Felice restaurant, where I never ate. The area has changed extensively even in my lifetime. One thing that did not change from my youth to today, I always remember the intersection as being busy. But not in 1908!

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)

Frank F and I also have witnessed the newer/less curved roadway leading to Lakeville Rd. Like Mark observed, the original concrete road extensions are pebbled. The 1910 image below shows the steady uprise of the pkwy to the then western end, Great Neck. The 1960 image shows the modified roadway. Great Neck High South est. in 1958, the school must have wanted the road to look uniform, not like a bandaid.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Documentation of the First 15 Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges in Nassau County

Pre-Baci’s restaurant! And excellent sleuthing Art. Great information relating to the hotel’s original location and related incidences. Always learning something new here. On the left, part of the original Salisbury Plains still intact, now home to Eisenhower Park’s golf course, just south of Old Country Rd., the same area Dave mentioned just last week. An amazing shot Howard. Thank you Al, Howard, and Garden City Archives for sharing these photos of old Long Island to all.

From Mystery Foto #7 Solved:The Intersection of Old Country Road & Post Avenue in Westbury (1908 & 2020)