Vanderbilt Cup Races

I know why the LIMP is interesting to me, but can’t figure why a road that only existed in minds and maps? A crystal clear 1940 aerial came upon me here. Interesting because it shows the old and new at the same time. I added information from a couple of older maps below. Fairview Blvd isn’t carved out yet on the aerial, but presently is just E/O and parallel with Surrey La. I didn’t line in the proposed Hempstead Spur, but I agree with the below 1923 and 1939 atlases.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

Graham: Look up Richland ave and Hollis Hills Terrace in Queens. Turn around and you will see the bridge.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Documentation of the 12 Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges in Queens

Matt, thanks for feedback, and can anyone confirm what Matt is suggesting? I always thought this stretch from Lakeville Rd east past the fields was original LIMP. Am I wrong?? The school rebuilt a road that close to the original LIMP with concrete extensions on each side? Really??

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

Photo #33 that’s the R34 coming in!  Important photo.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Documentation of the Long Island Motor Parkway Bridges in Nassau County (#28-#42)

Very interesting collection and comments. I enjoyed looking it over very much. Thanks, Art!

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

I never really watched ‘Mike and Molly’, but do remember Billy Gardell on the past ‘Yes Dear’ sitcom. Growing a stache looks right on him : ). Any chance Sharon is related to Howie Mandel ? Like the “power skateboard” that was captured in the video!
________________________________
Howard Kroplick

Sharon was married to my wonderful brother-in-law Jack Mandel.
The power skateboard following Tucker 1044 was really cool!

From Tucker 1044 Honored with Best in Class and Billy Gardell Trophies at Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance

Al - Just a guess but I noticed on some of the old maps the proposed Hempstead Spur is depicted somewhere between Clinton Rd and Merrick Ave, and always starting with a curve on the north end. I’ve also noticed the spur’s location slightly different for each map. I based my findings of its location from a survey (below) that shows a north exit/entrance plaza instead, accessible from either direction, and located at the end of the Clinton Rd curve just east of Raymond Ct. The survey at the curve shows a bearing of N 73*36’50” E, equivalent to the actual curve’s coordinate N 40*43’59.53”,  W 73*36’50.00”. Another sketch shows Meadow Brook St. (Rd.) at the southern end of the spur, and Fairview Av. (Blvd.) running parallel just to the west of the spur. There’s also the Hempstead/Garden City boundary line defining the wider southern exit/entrance plaza, north of Fulton Ave. I’m not entirely confident the proposed spur was correctly drawn on the maps

Map link:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1396j0_672hYkvbcNFJInbc1mXNJspD9f&ll=40.7234069836966,-73.60931890643269&z=15

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

As long as we’re at today’s 106 and Jericho Pike, the common area just north of the Pike, where 106 and 107 are coincident, hosted the Maine Maid Inn (now reborn as Scotto’s One North, 4 Old Jericho Tpke.), Valentine Hicks’ 1789 home, famed as a stop on the Underground Railroad.  When the roads were widened ca. 1980{?}, the area was totally chaotic and the Inn was all-but -inaccessible so they put up a hand-painted wooden sign in the form of an arrow pointing to the east along Old Cedar Swamp Road, mis-labled “TOMAINE MAID”.  This was before cell phone cameras and how I wish I’d remembered to go back with a film camera (or to have “acquired” the sign when the roads were finished)!  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #6 Solved: The Jericho Turn in Jericho on a Vanderbilt Cup Race Course

I have seen, and sat in this Tucker many times, the car is amazing, and very roomy inside.  The Tucker was very advanced for a car built in the 40’s.

From Tucker 1044 Featured in Newsday's "In The Garage"

Re. The Hempstead Spur. Never been able to discover why the spur starts with a curve from the Parkway .  If built, motorists heading east would have had a awkward turn onto the spur. For those coming from the east were the to cross the westbound lane or did the Parkway plan to go under/over the west bound lane. Anyone?

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

Sam III - There are a few blogs here on the site that explains how Old Homestead Lane came to be. If you search - Old Homestead - it’ll lead you to the blog. This area was developed in the mid 1990’s, and I never thought to explore this location prior. The images here show what a hidden treasure it was.

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

Dave. My guess is that the original section of LIMP pavement starting from the Great Neck Lodge leading to the Lakeville Road bridge was removed when they tore down the bridge. At that time,they lowered the grade to meet the grade of Lakeville Road and straightened it as well. The Great Neck school district wanted the entrance to the fields to be easy to traverse. The pavement in your pictures is an impostor and a good one at that.

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

From Art: Yes, all documents are after 1951.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

Article about Bernard Pouchan of the Beau Sejour

From Mystery Foto #6 Solved: The Jericho Turn in Jericho on a Vanderbilt Cup Race Course

Additional photos

From Mystery Foto #6 Solved: The Jericho Turn in Jericho on a Vanderbilt Cup Race Course

Howard this is “A Brief History of the Beau Sejour” that I wrote for my history of Central Park / Bethpage that unfortunately was never published.

One of the most famous landmarks in Bethpage was the Beau Sejour.  It was located on a plot of land occupying the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Stewart Avenue, and bounded on the west by Pershing Avenue and on the north by Kearney Ave.  What is known about the Beau comes primarily from two sources: in April 1970 the Thomas Powell Yorkers of Bethpage High School published “An Architectural Survey of Bethpage, L.I., and Environs” which provided documentary evidence of the physical description of the site along with land ownership; in addition, the Wilson Family, who owned the Beau for most of the 20th century, have provided a tradition of family history documenting their ownership.
The Beau Sejour was built on land bought by William C. Hauxhurst in 1847.  Sometime between 1847 and 1853, when Hauxhurst sold it, along with 31 acres located between Central Ave. and the railroad tracks to John S. Walters, the house was built.  Tradition has it that a team of horses were driven around in a circle on the grounds in order to mix the mortar needed for construction when being built.  What is definitely known is that the bricks for its manufacture came locally from Ephraim Smith’s brickyard in Bethpage.  As Smith had purchased his property in 1849, it appears that probably the Beau was built about 1850.

The original building was a large, box-like brick structure, with its kitchen being located in the basement.  The original fireplace and oven was approximately eight to ten feet across, and three feet deep.  The original framing members of unshaved beams were exposed down there.  The first floor level had walls measuring 23 inches thick.  The wood sash windows were four over four glass panes measuring 38” wide by 88” high.  These windows had replaced the original six over six windows evident in early postcards.  Located here in 1970 was the kitchen, bar and three dining rooms.  The second floor served as an art gallery, once again with wood sash windows measuring 38” by 88”, composed of six over six glass panes.  Obviously, both of these floors were remodeled when the building was converted into a restaurant in 1908.  The third floor retained its original appearance.  The floorboards were 12” wide, the doors 7½ high, with plaster walls throughout the roughly fifteen rooms on that floor.  The windows were horizontal, made of three panes, measuring 17½”high by 40½” wide. 
Completing the top of the building was an octagonal belvedere on the center of the roof.  Its walls measured 55½” per side, and it was 12 feet 4” across.  The six by six wood sash windows once again measured 38” by 88”.  A wood flagpole, which prominently showed up in old postcards and photographs, ran through the center of the belvedere and up through its roof.  From here one could easily spot the four corner chimneys.  Additionally, around the flat roof hung wide eaves with decorative brackets.
In its original form both the front (east) and rear (west) sides of the building had 5 window openings across all 3 floors, while the sides (north & south) had only 3 openings at all 3 levels.  The first floor, front side had a center door instead of a window opening.  At the turn of the 20th century this door sported a small railed porch, which later would be expanded to a full width screened porch, and still later a closed-in windowed porch.
After the turn of the 20th century, when the building became a restaurant, two wood additions were made to the original building.  One, located on the west side contained the kitchen, with the other, a dining room, was on the north side and extended around the east and south sides.
Prior to the first week of February 1970, the original barn stood near the southwest corner of the property.  This building was demolished at that time due to the widening of Central Avenue.  At the same time, a tree dating from the time the Beau was built (ascertained by tree ring counting) was also taken down.  This tree was located on the southeast corner of the property at Central and Stewart Avenues.
An extensive list of property owners followed John S. Walters’s sale of it, along with property on the opposite side of Central Avenue to Alexander McConochie in 1856.  In 1859, Jeremiah T. Weaver (1818-1890), the son-in-law of Alexander McConochie, was living in the Beau, even though it was then owned by Truman Richards.  Weaver was a prominent resident of Central Park, who had previously been the Postmaster in Jerusalem Station (appointed January 29, 1857).  He would become the first Postmaster of the newly created Central Park P.O. on March 1, 1867. 
It seems that every couple of years the property changed hands until the turn of the 20th century.  In 1897 the Beau was purchased by James J. Powers, and run as a hotel by his family.  In 1908 Bernard Pouchan purchased the building and opened it as a restaurant.  It is assumed that it was at this time that it was named the “Beau Sejour”, which means “beautiful stay”.  Bernard Pouchan was born in France in 1860, having immigrated to the U.S. in 1891.  He was described as being 5½ feet tall, with gray eyes and hair and sporting a mustache.  The building of the L.I. Motor Parkway, along with the annual Vanderbilt Cup Race brought business to Central Park, including the Beau Sejour.
On April 11, 1909, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle ran a full page article entitled “A Day With Monsieur Le Cordon Bleu at the Hotel Beau Sejour”, complete with several pen and ink sketches of Bernard Pouchan in his chef’s outfit. 

One postcard boasts “Hotel Beau Séjour, Central Park, L.I., 30 miles from New York City, HUMBERT, late of Café Martin, Proprietor, Tel. 91 Hicksville – The Leading French Hotel on Long Island”, the map on the back of the card shows the L.I. Motor Parkway as the route to take.  Humbert Possenti (his real first name was Umberto) was listed in the 1915 N.Y.S. Census as a 37 year old Hotel Keeper, having been born in Italy, and coming to the U. S. in 1901.  He was living with his French born wife, Isabelle, and his two children.  As Pouchan was in Germany in 1914-15, obviously Possenti was running the Beau at this time. 
Another postcard, evidently from the 1940’s, states “Country Dining Par Excellence… [Open] 12 Noon to 9 P.M….Closed Tuesdays”.    Still later, from the 1950’s, it states “the Right Road to Gracious Dining…Let a superb meal at Beau Sejour climax your pleasant drive through lovely Long Island”.  A multi-fold card, it includes a listing of the “Specialties of the House” on the menu.

In 1918, Bernard Pouchan sold the Beau Sejour to his sister-in-law and her husband, Elizabeth and Harry Wilson.  Among the famous guests of the Beau were Roald Amundsen (the famous Norwegian Polar explorer), Enrico Caruso, General George C. Marshall, and President Harry S. Truman.  The Wilson family would continue to own the Beau Sejour Restaurant until its demise in 1974.  In December of 1974, the venerable Beau Sejour Restaurant was torn down.  In its place would eventually be built a Pizza Hut and an Arthur Treacher’s restaurant.
Having been a large part of the community for nearly 125 years, the Beau Sejour was sadly missed then, and is still missed today, having played a vital role in the development of Bethpage.
I have attached some images, plus 2 of the Jericho Hotel.
Gary

From Mystery Foto #6 Solved: The Jericho Turn in Jericho on a Vanderbilt Cup Race Course

Amazing work lately Art.

The thing that really sparked my interest here is #14, the Lakeville Road bridge. Great pic BTW with Deepdale mansion still standing with extended garden, the LIMP really went right by his house!

But what caught my attn was the tremendous ANGLE the LIMP takes over Lakeville Rd. The bridge really crosses over the road at a 45 degree angle and I was not aware of that at all. I thought the major curve was before/west of the bridge.

Clearly shown in the photo, the LIMP doesn’t “straighten out” until it reaches the Great Neck Lodge. But see these two pics I’ve attached, and this is original LIMP so you can’t argue with this. And that bridge pic is an actual LIMP pic so you can’t argue with that either! Maybe after the bridge came down Lakeville Road was widened a little for sure but it’s still strange! You can see from the second pic there is a long straightaway leading up to the Great Neck Lodge on the left which you can see in the pic. Then it turns after the lodge. It just contradicts the old photo. Very weird.

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

Does anyone know the names of any of the realtors involved in the land transactions for the parkway up to and including 1913? Have those records been compiled in one place? I live within a thousand feet of the western terminus, on the northern side of Horace Harding Expressway. I’m wondering whether Willie K. friend S. Osgood Pell and his Fifth Ave firm was involved, specifically. Thanks.

From The Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series: #1 North Hempstead Turnpike Bridge in Fresh Meadows

Terrific. I do wish the maps were larger to read details.

From Kleiner's Kolumn: Part 2- Mapping the Motor Parkway, Mitchel Field & Mitchel Gardens

Looking northeast at South Oyster Bay Road and Jericho Turnpike about 1908.
On the left is Powell’s Jericho Hotel.
The 1908 race used this route.
The Beau Sejour, a landmark restaurant, was on Central Avenue, Bethpage, just a stone’s throw from
the Massapequa toll lodge on Rte 107 (Hicksville Road). Many patrons of the LIMP dined there..

From Mystery Foto #6 Solved: The Jericho Turn in Jericho on a Vanderbilt Cup Race Course