Vanderbilt Cup Races

Motor Parkway’s Little Neck Parkway Bridge (1912-1942) looking NNW in the afternoon.
The open field beyond the bridge on the left is today’s Green Meadows Farm, and beyond that in the heavy trees is today’s Queens County Farm Museum. This rail road type girder bridge replaced an original Motor Parkway concrete bridge, similar to the Winchester Blvd bridge here—> https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/wednesday_december_31_2008_the_bridges_over_winchester_boulevard.

I’ve yet to find photos of the original LIMP concrete bridge’s that spanned throughout Queens. Likely this mystery photo taken shortly before demolition in 1942.

From Mystery Foto #44B Solved: A 1942 Photo of the Little Neck Parkway Motor Parkway Bridge

Exact location of the parking lot in question? Also, I grew up in New Hyde Park and found this page through the NewHydeParkMuseum.com page. Really enjoying it all!

From Update: A Proposal to the Village of Garden City To Restore the Motor Parkway Concrete Posts Near Their Parking Lot

•  Motor Parkway Bridge over Little Neck Road (Parkway).  The photographer is looking North. 
•  This bridge and other bridges in Queens look different because when they were built the City of New York required the Motor Parkway to use railroad-type trestle construction over the Queens public roads.
•  The photo was taken June 5, 1942 as part of a survey in preparation for the demolition of the bridge.

From Mystery Foto #44B Solved: A 1942 Photo of the Little Neck Parkway Motor Parkway Bridge

Found among files from the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport are documents from Willie K. and A.J. Kienzle, General Mgr. of the Parkway relating to the various lodges.  Here’s one announcing the closing of several lodges, including Meadow Brook effective Dec. 1, 1934.  Letters were sent to lodge keepers, including Otto McCamish.

From Update: Greg O’s Discovery: The McCamish Family and Their Time in the Meadow Brook Lodge

Al, he ran in the same social circles as Willie K.. However, he appears only to have attended the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

Howard, Best, most thorough and informative article I’ve ever seen on the Mackay estate and family. Was he involved with the Vanderbilt Cup Races in ant way?

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

Nice work Greg! I recalled similar dirt tracks in a construction photo by Farmedge Rd near the Bloomingdale bridge. There was little to go on to solve the pic in the open plains.

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

Greg, great info, I was unaware. The path leading to the water tower still has a horse/pillar ornament mounted at its entrance, and the Dairy Man’s cottage sits at an amazing 3/4 miles away from the mansion!

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

Frank- At least the Dairy man’s cottage, water tower, and front gate are still there.

https://www.roslynlandmarks.org/projects/mackay-estate-dairymans-cottage

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

Looking back at the current view of the Roslyn site, Mackay mansion was four times larger than the biggest house in the area today! He was only 28 years of age when he built the house on the hill. Sadly, there is no evidence at all today of the former estate. It’s been completely wiped off the map. THANK YOU Howard for saving those Mackay horses!

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

Greg - you nailed that one!  Great work!

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

The 2nd Bain photo down could also be the same stretch of tracks next to the Newbridge Rd bridge as the January mystery photo. The South side poles match, but the building on the North side has been removed since the Bain photos appear to be previous to bridge construction and no longer needed by the time the mystery photo was taken. Also, the mystery photo is missing the poles on the North side of the tracks. Possibly also removed by the time of the January mystery photo.

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

Aside from the obvious tree line, the dirt pathways match between the mystery photo (top) and the Bain photo (below)

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

I have confirmed that the 3rd photo down is indeed taken from the location of the Newbridge Road bridge. Here is my proof:
Mystery photo #4, from Jan 27th 2020 is just about an identical view. The top photo is the entire mystery #4 photo. Zooming in on the trees to the left of that mystery photo reveals a tree line, (my 2nd photo) The 3rd photo is an enlarged and cropped version of the Bain photo. The tree line is an exact match.

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

now theres a code to get in and you are on camera . cant even take pictures under the (bridge) mmmm wonder if the members no or care about the history…At least my friend from Staten Island and i got in to the clubhouse ,talk about history !before they escorted us out

From The Bridgehampton Race Circuit...Today

Of the 5 photos from top to bottom, the lack of surrounding features may make most of them impossible to determine. I think the top photo and the 3rd photo down can possibly be solved.
My initial, knee jerk guesses so far are; for the top steamroller photo, I’m trying to match various tree lines on the plains, Salisbury/Island Trees area, but resolution is hindering the ability to see far off tree lines well.
The 3rd photo down, I’m thinking the photographer was standing at the location for the Newbridge Road bridge looking eastwards. The structure seen in the photo is standing a bit West of where the grandstands will be.

From Kleiner's Korner: Recently Found Motor Parkway Construction Photos

Great stuff!

If you look at Google Street View, it looks like the two photos of 165 Poplar drive are reversed.
__________________________________________________________

Howard Kroplick:
Two different views: One from the street and one in the backyard. It was an amazing sight. The property owner was selling the home and the statue was in jeopardy of being demolished. Ian Zwerdling and I stepped in and helped transfer ownership to the Town of North Hempstead and relocation to Gerry Park.

From Harbor Hill- The Roslyn Country Home of a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Spectator- Clarence Mackay

According to this advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post of Nov., 1908, the Sharp Arrow ran on Michelin tires (3 new and 1 that had 6,000 miles).  The latter tire didn’t seem to have a negative impact as the Sharp won the race, albeit having been disqualified later as noted above.  Supposedly, owner and driver, William Sharp initially inquired as to the used tire being up to the challenge.

From Starting Lineup: The 1908 Garden City Sweepstakes Updated: 2/15/16

Courtesy of Arrts Archives - The second paragraph describes the framework of a bridge, likely for Granger Ave, which became abandoned. Must be the same abutments utilized for the LIMP.

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series:#4 The Bridge over the Queens Central Rail Road Right-of-Way

Great Neck lodge stop sign, just 3 miles east of Rocky Hill lodge

From Mystery Foto #43 Solved: A 1996 of the Entrance and Exit Ramps to Springfield Boulevard at the Rocky Hill Lodge Site