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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
Amazing, historic photos capturing the thrill of racing along familiar roadways!
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Amazing, how exciting that must have been to witness. There’s only one sad photo—the one at the end. The only thing that hasn’t changed are telephone poles.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
What a great discovery Howard! Looks like the photographer provided important descriptions too. Glad you were able to acquire them.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Superb images! Thank you for sharing these, it is like stepping into a time machine.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Incredible find ! Exciting images…
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Great find.
From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: 12 Previously unpublished photos of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Willie K. is preparing to race his 1904 90 HP Mercedes in the Eagle Rock Hill Climb in West Orange, NJ on November 24, 1904.
From Mystery Foto #48 Solved: Willie K. getting ready to race at the Eagle Rock Hill Climb on November 24, 1904
Hi, just came back from the Friends cemetery where my father rests. My mother is an Albertson, and I am the great great grandson of Silas Albertson. This is all so fascinating to me. Thanks
From Mystery Foto #17 Solved: North Hempstead Town Supervisor Edwin C. Willets Driving a 1904 Buckmobile
One, (of possibly a few?) 1904 Mercedes racers that Willie K had from 1904 through 1908.
This one during the 1904 Eagle Rock Hill Climb Contest- November 24, 1904
Seen below with VERY well-known racing mechinician Mr. Robert C. Watson at Ormond in 1904.
From Mystery Foto #48 Solved: Willie K. getting ready to race at the Eagle Rock Hill Climb on November 24, 1904
I will check it at High Rock Park in the spring, I live in Staten Island.
From Mystery Foto #45 Solved: The Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum in Staten Island
Art, The gentleman in uniform is William K. Vanderbilt Jr. in front of his country estate, Deepdale located at today’s Lake Success. In 1904 he sent word to the newly formed Vigilant Engine and Hook and Ladder Company of Thomaston that he was willing to pay for some of the necessary apparatus He paid for two engines which were delivered in early 1905. To show their appreciation of the gifts, Vanderbilt was made the first honorary member of the Company. He would prove be the Company’s biggest benefactor.
From Mystery Foto #47 Solved: Willie K in his Vigilant Fire Company uniform at Deepdale (Circa 1905-1906)
Guessing it’s Willie K dressed in a Thomaston Fire Department suit with helmet, TFD
From Mystery Foto #47 Solved: Willie K in his Vigilant Fire Company uniform at Deepdale (Circa 1905-1906)
William K Vanderbilt at Deepdale Estate Lake Success
The uniform and helmet look like those worn by firefighters back then. Willie was a volunteer firefighter for decades and supported the local fire department in Great Neck and Centerport. The last line on the helmet looks like it has FD at the end, so I am guessing this was his firefighter uniform/helmet.
Date, guessing sometime between 1905-1915 given Willies appearance, sporting the moustache.
From Mystery Foto #47 Solved: Willie K in his Vigilant Fire Company uniform at Deepdale (Circa 1905-1906)
Another shot showing the two domes.
From Mystery Foto #45 Solved: The Vanderbilt Family Cemetery and Mausoleum in Staten Island
And one more.
From Mystery Foto #46 Solved: The 1904 press box/officials' stand on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury
Brian - Sigaretes is Italian for Cigarettes according to Google. Here are a few articles mentioning the brand from 1903 and 1904 editions of “Tobacco World” & “The Smokers Magazine”.
From Mystery Foto #46 Solved: The 1904 press box/officials' stand on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury
That sure looks like Willie K. Jr. I think he’s standing in front of his Deepdale estate in Lake Success. The uniform looks like it’s from an auxiliary volunteer fire department; possibly from the Village of Lake Success. Or since he had the recent memory of his father’s estate in Oakdale burning down, he organized a V. F. D. unit on his own property. He looks quite young so I’m going with a date of around 1905.
From Mystery Foto #47 Solved: Willie K in his Vigilant Fire Company uniform at Deepdale (Circa 1905-1906)
Attention Art Kleiner—are any of Robert Edgren’s original pieces available to purchase from a collection? I think they are notable. Thanks.
From Kleiner's Korner: Part 1 - Vanderbilt Cup Race Illustrations of "The NY World" - The Impact on Farmers
Yes, now I see ‘Vigilant’ on the helmet!
From Mystery Foto #47 Solved: Willie K in his Vigilant Fire Company uniform at Deepdale (Circa 1905-1906)
Like so many other kids in the sixties, I grew up playing and riding my bike around Deadman’s Curve, a steeply-banked section of the parkway where it turned north to cross the LIRR tracks and head into Bethpage Stat Park near the picnic area. The ‘Curve’ was located at the north end of Windhorst Ave and Herman Ave, one block north of Wilson Lane, where I lived at #55. What happened to the curve that cut it in half? Some people speculated that it was washed out in a storm, but I disagree. I was there when the new split level houses were levelled and burned in around ‘63 for the construction of NY135 Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway. One person decided they wanted to save their house, so they dug out that section of the parkway and put the house on rollers and dragged it through the fields, right through the cut in Deadman’s Curve, and put it up on a new foundation as the last house on the street just north of Windhorst Ave. I believe it’s still there, and nobody today probably knows where this different-style house came from! I was there the day they pulled it through the Curve’s banked turn. What a shame, to destroy that historic banked curve!
From Bethpage Newsgram & Mid-Island Times: Vanderbilt Cup Races through Bethpage
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