Tag: Westbury
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Aug 11 2009
Charles Lindbergh and the Motor Parkway in 1927
One of the busiest days on the Motor Parkway was June 16, 1927, when Charles Lindbergh returned to Roosevelt Field to celebrate his successful solo flight to Paris. Lindbergh had taken off from the Roosevelt Field east runway 27 days earlier. The Motor Parkway is the road in the middle of the image running parallel to Stewart Avenue on the right.
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Apr 12 2009
The most dramatic image of the Vanderbilt Cup Races
One of the stirring moments that built the legend of the Vanderbilt Cup Race occurred at the Hairpin Turn during the1906 race. A spare tire and rim strapped to the back of the #18 Lorraine-Dietrich broke loose and began to thrash the gas tank. Riding mechanician Franville clutched the heavy mounted tire and lost his balance. Just as the car skidded through the turn, the French driver Arthur Duray handled the tight corner with one hand on the wheel while rescuing his assistant with his left arm.…
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Mar 29 2009
Then & Now: Entrance to the Meadow Brook Lodge from Merrick Avenue in Westbury
One of my favorite photos in the book The Long Island Motor Parkway is this 1910 image of the entrance to the Meadow Brook Lodge.
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Mar 27 2009
Parking on the Pratt Farm for the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Before the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Nassau County farmers protested the use of public roads for the races. It was only two days before the race that their legal suit was dismissed. The farmers soon found a way to profit from the races by selling parking spaces on their properties. Parking spaces were sold for $5 to $25, more than enough to make up for the delay in bringing their produce to the city markets.
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Mar 04 2009
Approaching the Merrick Avenue Bridge during the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Three of the 16 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race photos from the Hayden Allen Collection document the first Motor Parkway Bridge encountered by the drivers in the 1908 to 1910 races. I believe these photos are the only known images of the Merrick Avenue Bridge during the races.
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Mar 03 2009
The Magnificent 1910 Lozier
The second set of 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race photos from the Hayden Allen Collection focuses on the magnificent #2 Lozier driven by Ralph Mulford.
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Jan 14 2009
The Revival of the Vanderbilt Cup Races in 1936 and 1937
American Auto racing in the 1930’s had dwindled in the face of the Great Depression. Road racing was dead. Gone, too, were the wood plank bowl speedways of the roaring twenties, leaving the Indianapolis 500 as the one occasion each year to spotlight the sport. The spirit of American road racing survived, however, in the hearts of men like George Robertson, the burly, determined competitor that had unabashedly staked a claim for America as an international force with his stirring triumph in…
