Vanderbilt Cup Races

These are neat maps, appreciate that the Himes Family has shared them here. Like that LIRR is mileage noted, like the spur for the Bethpage Brick Yard was almost 2 1/2 miles long. And there’s town or villages named that eventually were changed or just deleted.

Roy Warner - Yes, there was an extension that branched south from Mineola to Hempstead. There was a LIRR employee, Robert/Bob Emery that hand sketched the entire LIRR routes, creating an archive of maps. Very detailed, if you search his name here, there are maps that will come up.

Seeing Chauffeur here, both of my grandfathers were employed as Chauffeurs. They lived and worked in NYC. Even noted on early censuses as their occupation.

From From the Marty Himes Collection: Two Very Early Long Island Pocket Maps (1892 and 1917)

How about over Carman Ave, looking southeast ? Also, the bridge in the sandpits, in Meville believe it had the same kind of curve.

From Update 5/6/2025: Now open for further discussion and a new poll- Mystery Friday Foto #18: An Unknown Motor Parkway Location

Would love to see this car restored back to original Cabriolet factory specifications.
I love FLW houses and I absolutely love E.T. Gregorie Edsel Ford automotive design genius on the original Continental.  Good time to correct a mistake.

From Frank Lloyd Wright's 1940 Lincolns- Automotive history being restored by Rob Ida

Very pleasant voice!  Thanks for sharing.  And Happy Birthday!

From Song of the Week: "What About This Time" by Dana Kyle Kroplick

Willie K, Clarence MacKay (Harbor Hill), and ​​​​​​​Jefferson DeMont Thompson (chairman of the races) at the results of 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race, location at the grandstand at Jericho Tpke just west of Powells Lane, Westbury NY. Oct 6, 1906

From Mystery Friday Foto #19 Solved: A Crowd Gathers at the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Thank you for the swift reply to my comment.  I’m curious about what kinds of relics you might have found on your explorations in this area.  I remember being fixated on some frame rails and other vehicle remnants next to the Parkway on the hillside just north of the LILCO power lines, and I have a nice little arrowhead collection from the surrounding hills.  I also have a somewhat foggier memory of two concrete bridge abutments on Colonial Springs Road next to the old VFW hall.  Was there an overpass/underpass for the Parkway in that location?  I have read a fairly comprehensive history of the area in a book by Verne Dyson that I wonder if you are familiar with.

From Kleiner's Korner: 100 Years Ago on the Motor Parkway (Oct. - Nov., 1924)

The location is at the grandstands for the Vanderbilt Cup Race on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury. The date would be October 6, 1906. The three men are Willie K. (who needs no link); Clarence Mackay, friend of Willie K. and $5,000.00 investor in the LIMP; and Jefferson DeMont Thompson, chairman of the Vanderbilt Cup Commission and Treasurer of the LIMP. Regarding the hats, with the exception of the gentlemen on either side of Willie K., they’re ALL wearing hats.

From Mystery Friday Foto #19 Solved: A Crowd Gathers at the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race

Howard, I’ve heard you sing, It’s obvious your daughter got her musical talent from her mother.

From Song of the Week: "What About This Time" by Dana Kyle Kroplick

You must be over the moon proud of Dana’s wonderful song and musical composition.  It’s a marvelous representation of her hard work and talents.

From Song of the Week: "What About This Time" by Dana Kyle Kroplick

Happy Birthday Howard!
And congrats to your Daughter on her new release. Looking forward to listening to it and her other performances.

From Song of the Week: "What About This Time" by Dana Kyle Kroplick

Love these maps!!!
Interesting to note that both show what would become Montauk Harbor as an in closed lake with the north edge of the lake still in place as a very thin strip of land with a small road noted on it.

From From the Marty Himes Collection: Two Very Early Long Island Pocket Maps (1892 and 1917)

Great find, Greg.  Thanks for sharing.

From From the Marty Himes Collection: Two Very Early Long Island Pocket Maps (1892 and 1917)

Thank you Peter for your comment.  Yes, I enjoyed investigating and researching that section of the Motor Parkway and many times made my way through the woods finding relics.  But to be able to do it while you were there would have certainly been a treat.

From Kleiner's Korner: 100 Years Ago on the Motor Parkway (Oct. - Nov., 1924)

I just came across the Kleiner’s Korner 12/18/24 piece and found it quite accurate and very interesting as I grew up there in the late 50’s till the early 70’s on Hasslacher Blvd (aka Chateau Drive) and spent many days exploring and playing on the LIMP pavement from the former Terra Cotta brickworks site on Conklin Road, past the Chateau Restaurant, and all the way up to the fenced-in Baruch Estate Castle (now Madonna Heights).  Despite the steep surrounding hills it was a mostly straight and level stretch that must have been a speedy fast section.  A heavily wooded surrounding area including the Henry Kaufman Campground with its Colonial Springs, the Usdan Arts Center, and the Bagatelle Nursery, I feel very fortunate to have spent my childhood roaming this virtually undeveloped area where the Indians had previously lived at one with Nature.

From Kleiner's Korner: 100 Years Ago on the Motor Parkway (Oct. - Nov., 1924)

Beautiful.  I saw in the 1892 my old stomping grounds - Supreme Court, Nassau County - where I tried cases for 30 yrs. The buildings in the area, including the WPA Sup/Cthouse (it has a magnificent inside lobby), were built on the lands. I also noticed that the LIRR ran from its intersection with the mainline in Mineola all the way south through GC and Hempstead to the Montauk line along Sunrise Hgwy.  I think I read about it if I’m not mistaken. Am I wrong? Did it run south and connect up with what is now the terminus from a branch of the Montauk that runs north to West Hempstead?  I also notice where my wife and I built a teardown in the Gates at Woodbury near the intersection of Woodbury Rd and Jericho Tpke.  My wife and I go back every other month to see our granddaughters from where we are now - Phoenix, AZ, in the middle of nowhere.

From From the Marty Himes Collection: Two Very Early Long Island Pocket Maps (1892 and 1917)

May 2025 - this car is again on display at the Gilmore Car Museum as part of the feature exhibit in the main gallery about race cars.

Come see it before this exhibit ends at the end of September.

From Hemmings Blog (2010) "Sand Special Riding: Ralph Hamlin's 1911 Franklin Special desert racer"

Wow! An amazing set of photos defying the test of time, now available 119 years later. Always grateful when old historic photos are kept and preserved for future viewing.

From Helck Family Collection: Seven amazing photos at the Hairpin Turn during the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race

To the best of my recollection there was only two places where the Motor Parkway was unable to get the 100 foot wide sections they preferred for the ROW. The first was the Alfred Cornwall section 50 feet wide from R. W. Smith to New Hyde Park Rd. The other 50 feet wide section was the Stewart Heirs piece from Old Country Rd. to the Raymond Court area in Garden City. One section the Parkway had difficulty in obtaining the desired 100 foot width was with Jacob Ganger who supplied the piece between the Old Westbury Rd. and what was Newbridge Ave. at the time. As it turned out the distance between the north side of the Parkway ROW and the Newbridge Hotel was less than 50 feet wide.

From Update 5/6/2025: Now open for further discussion and a new poll- Mystery Friday Foto #18: An Unknown Motor Parkway Location

Figured I see if the Mystery Foto is possibly The Westbury Ave LIMP Bridge. The curve in the mystery foto ( not flipped ) is comparable to The Westbury Ave LIMP Bridge viewed South. But there should be trolley tracks and a utility pole & wires visible, but these aren’t seen in the foto. Westbury Ave didn’t extend here yet here either. Here’s some screenshots anyway below.

From Update 5/6/2025: Now open for further discussion and a new poll- Mystery Friday Foto #18: An Unknown Motor Parkway Location

In between the cedar posts on the left appears structures of the same height. These could be barns belonging to the Mineola Playground (1866-1950)

From Update 5/6/2025: Now open for further discussion and a new poll- Mystery Friday Foto #18: An Unknown Motor Parkway Location