"Travels Along an Abandoned Roadway"

When I first met Rob, I discovered that he had a passion for an old abandoned road called the Long Island Motor Parkway. We found an old map from 1926 and traced it onto a modern map. During 1977 and part of 1978, we found what was left of the old roadway. We took pictures, wrote journals, and researched its history from top to bottom. The following is a little bit of history surrounding the first toll road in the United States.

William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., built the Long Island Motor Parkway in 1904 and used it primarily as a racetrack. Mr. Vanderbilt wanted to introduce automobile racing to the United States. He paved local roadways in Nassau and Queens and set up a 30-mile racecourse. These became known as the Vanderbilt Cup races as Mr. Vanderbilt offered a large silver bowl to the winner of the race.

In 1908, the road was expanded. During the next two years, the Vanderbilt Cup races became very popular. Because of its steep curves, the roads were very dangerous and unsuitable for racing at high speeds. Very often, racecars drove off the road into crowds of people who did not stay off to the side. This caused two deaths and numerous injuries. In 1910, the races were stopped.

Later, Mr. Vanderbilt decided to expand the roadway to 48 miles. It became a privately patrolled, two-lane concrete highway that began in Flushing, Queens and ended at Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County. A two-dollar toll was collected at twelve lodges along the roadway. Each of the lodges housed the toll collectors and their families.

At the end of the roadway, Vanderbilt had an expensive restaurant built called "Le Petit Trianon." It was situated at the edge of Lake Ronkonkoma. Parts of its foundations can still be seen today.

In the 1920’s, during Prohibition, the parkway became known as "rumrunner’s road." Bootleggers found it to be a faster and safer way to deliver liquor. Car manufacturers and tire companies rented certain parts of the road to promote their products. Private citizens who used the parkway paid a reduced toll of one dollar. A season pass could be bought and mounted to the hood of the car.

By 1929, taxes on the roadway became too costly. To cut expenses, Vanderbilt proposed to sell the parkway back to the Long Island counties it ran through: Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. No one wanted it. Robert Moses, who designed and built many of Long Island’s modern highways, called the parkway a "white elephant". He felt that the road was far too narrow for use as a two-lane highway.

In 1938, Vanderbilt made a deal. He agreed to sign over ownership of the Motor Parkway all three counties. This would guarantee cancellation of Vanderbilt’s growing personal tax bill. The entire road was used for a short time. Because the population on Long Island was still growing, each county would eventually break up the Motor Parkway for its own use. A stretch of the parkway still runs through Alley Pond Park in Queens County. It is used today as a bicycle and jogging path.

Very little of the parkway still exists in Nassau County. In the late 1970’s, there were still many undeveloped sections scattered throughout the county. During the 1980’s and 90’s, these sections were auctioned off and the land was used to build houses and businesses.

Suffolk is the only county that not only kept the Motor Parkway intact, but retained its name as well. A 13-mile stretch of road was widened and is still in use by cars today. Signs, however, mark its steep curves, so that accidents can be avoided.

Our passion for the road has cooled somewhat, but we have never lost interest in it. We have not only continued with our own research, but have assisted others. We have been invited to lectures on the parkway and made presentations. Somehow, it always turns up in conversation. There is always something new to learn about the country’s first paved highway.

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