Vanderbilt Cup Races

Great hidden info on the GC bridges. I always wondered about expansion over time especially these main thoroughfares. With OCR’s widening to 42’ in 1929 I wonder when it was widened again to 60’?  And the 1907 topo drawn to scale reveals Clinton Rd to receive a huge widening to almost 10x its original size! At 40’ today it must’ve been a mere ~5’ dirt road. Great news the old roadway will be preserved for future generations to enjoy. All fantastic news!

From Update: The Spring Meeting of the Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society

That’s famous artist Peter Helck sitting next to famous golfer Gene Sarazen (you can tell by the golf spikes) in Peter’s even more famous “Old #16” Locomobile, the winning racer of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup. The date of the photo is September 11, 1948 - you can tell by the inspection sticker on the windshield of the car over Peter’s left shoulder. (Seriously, I simply cheated and looked up mystery photo #42 from October, 2016)

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

Mystery Foto #22…. The artist to the right is, of course, Peter Helck. The athlete behind the wheel is golfing great Gene Sarazen. His shoes and socks hint at the sport of golf. The race car is none other than the Old 16 Locomobile. The car was owned by Peter Helck at that time. The Celebrity Party was held on September 11,1948.

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

-Identify the artist (right)
Peter Helck

-What in the Mystery Foto provides a hint at the athlete’s sport?
Golf pants

-Identify the athlete (left).
Gene Sarazen

-Identify the race car and its owner.
Peter Helck owned Old 16 at the time

-What year was this photo taken? Provide a rationale.
September 11, 1948 celebrity picnic at Lowell Thomas’ Home in Pawling, New York

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

The artist was Peter Helck
The driver, golfer Gene Sarazen, is wearing “plus fours”, golfing knickers
James Melton owned old number 16
The year was 1948

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

  The photo is of noted artist Peter Helck and professional golfer Gene Sarazen. The
race car is a 1906 locomobile.

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

Old Country Rd became as wide as the LIMP by 1930. Section of LIMP between Clinton Rd & the mall will make a nice shortcut for local residents.

From Update: The Spring Meeting of the Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society

Peter Helck
Race car driving in old 16 Locomobile
Babe Ruth
1948

From Mystery Foto #22 Solved: Peter Helck, Golfer Gene Sarazen and Old 16 in 1948

Today’s “LONG ISLAND OUR STORY” in NEWSDAY had six pages of Long Island Motor Parkway and Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island.
_____________________________________________________

Howard Kroplick

Bruce, which day was it published?

From A Salute to Our Veterans & Garden City News: Long Island Motor Parkway: The Role of Garden City

Didn’t get a chance at the mystery photo but this looks like the planned Garden City Mott section just West of Clinton Rd that was never built.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Village of Garden City including the Mott Section at center bottom (heirs of Mott Apple Juice), Mineola Fairgrounds top left corner, Roosevelt Field top right. This map (early ‘20s) likely a first draft, anticipating housing growth after Camp Mills (1918-1919). More streets south of Old Country Rd would be added. The map numerals do not correspond with today’s Section/Block/Lot system. This prime section of real estate also had easy access to the Motor Parkway. The Garden City lodge would eventually be moved in 1989 to the extreme bottom left corner of the map.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

This is a view of the northeast corner of Garden City by Roosevelt Field.
Old Country Road is the major road on top running left to right, and Clinton( Glen Cove Rd then) is on the right side running up down. The date is some time around 1909 because this map represents the original proposed subdivisions of the Garden City company property. The final subdivisions/roads were quite different. I know because I grew up on Avalon road, not shown on this map, which is somewhere in sector 202.

The map is significant because it included plans for a road to cross the Motor parkway around where “Lawrence” street( which was never built) crossed the parkway. In anticipation of that crossing the abutments were built, somewhere just north of what is now Transverse Road. However the original intersecting road and full bridge were never built—and those abutments are now known as the Mayan ruins.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Lee Chambers:

I suppose everyone has their favorite section of the LIMP.  Growing up on Mitchel Field and having spent an inordinate amount of my teenage years at Roosevelt Field, it should come as no surprise that my favorite section is between Clinton Road in Garden City, traversing across the Ring Road south of Macy’s, paralleling Stewart Ave. and continuing eastward to Merrick Ave. in East Meadow.

How I wish I could attend your presentation this Thursday in Bethpage!  (Hard to do from 3,000 miles away).  I will be greatly looking forward to seeing details of it in next weekend’s email blast. 


Lee Chambers Digital Media Creatives, Inc.

From A Salute to Our Veterans & Garden City News: Long Island Motor Parkway: The Role of Garden City

We’re looking at a section of East Garden City bounded by Old Country Road, Clinton Road, Stewart Avenue, and the LIRR Garden City-Hempstead Line with north at the top. I’m guessing the date to be around 1919 since the layout of the streets and many of the street names are different from what they eventually became. The significance may be that the “Mayan Ruins” (or Transverse Road) bridge was apparently designed to originally go under the LIMP as Lawrence Road.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Garden City

Circa 1914:  similar map found and dated on historicmapworks; no camp
Mills which began in 1917.  Street names don’t correspond to today’s names. 

Looks like there was no bridge over Clinton Road where the map shows there would be.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Mystery Foto #21…This map shows northeast Garden City. And the date is 1914 based on info I found in our very own VCR website.
As for the significance, the map illustrates the proposed street layout for northeastern Garden City.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

It’s the Garden City section of the LIMP, corresponding to the aerial photo at the beginning of this Newsletter, with North at the top, Clinton Road up the middle right, Old Country Road across the top, and Stewart Avenue across the bottom, and drawn as the Mott section was just starting to be developed in the ‘20s.  Roosevelt Field is the blank area at right.  Sam, III

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

Old Garden City, with the Motor Pkwy passing south along the border of today’s Roosevelt Field, and then east at the southend of today’s Roosevelt Field. The Queens/Nassau Parade Grounds became the site of the WPA’s Supreme/Nassau (with the beautiful topographic LI map in the lobby), and today’s Supreme/Nassau.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

East Garden City
Old Country Road at top; Stewart Avenue across bottom; Clinton Road on right.
The map shows the proposed streets in 1914. The LIMP is crossing Clinton at right.

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway

This is around the Garden City/Hempstead/Westbury borders.The road with the large open space on the right is Clinton Ave.The large open space is Roosevelt field.The LIMP crosses Clinton and heads east.The divided road at the bottom is Stewart Ave.Old Country road is at the top,running left to right.Don’t know what the date might be,I’d have to say no later than 1930s or 40s,just a guess.Significance? Shows whose backyard LIMP ran thru! haha

From Mystery Foto #21 Solved: A 1914 Map of the Garden City Section of the Long Island Motor Parkway