Mystery Foto #47 Solved: A 1956 Aerial of the Motor Parkway Behind Stewart Field in Garden City
Did you solve this weekend's Mystery Foto from the Cradle of Aviation Archives?
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
Identify the following:
- The location of the Mystery Foto and the orientation of the photographer
Looking northeast over the Garden City section of the abandoned Motor Parkway with Raymond Court to the right and east of Clinton Road. The Stewart Field track is south of the Motor Parkway right-of-way.
- Links to the Motor Parkway (the most links gets a kudo)
The Motor Parkway's General Manager's Office and the Garden City Lodge can be seen on the lower far left. Concrete posts can seen throughout this area including behind Stewart Field.
What was the date of the Mystery Foto? Provide a rationale.
May 1956. Rationale: A hint of the shopping center at the top of the Mystery Foto and the presence of the Garden City Lodge which was moved in 1989.
Comments (8)
Congrats to Greg O. Al Prete, Sam Berliner III, Steve Lucas Chris Lindsley, Art Kleiner and Frank Femenias for identifying the Garden City section of the Motor Parkway.
Kudos to Greg O., Al Prete, Sam Berliner III, Steve Lucas, Art Kleiner and Frank Femenias for their correct links to the Motor Parkway.
The Mystery Foto is courtesy of the newly scanned John Drennan Collection of the Cradle of Aviation.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
The expanded Mystery Foto dated May 1956.
Raymond Court
Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall and the Meadowbrook Parkway under construction. Not the three hangars of Roosevelt Field Airport still standing on Old Country Road. I remember one of the hangars became Murray the K's World in 1966.
The General Manager's Office and the Garden City Lodge. Check out the concrete posts!
Close-Ups
Comments
Looking Northward at the LIMP section between Clinton just off on the left edge, and Raymond Ct at the right edge. Long Island’s newest parking lot is sadly now towards the right.
Garden City Lodge and LIMP managers office/HQ on the left. Look at all those posts!
Clinton bridge is down and construction well-underway on the Roosevelt Field Mall, the year is 1956.
Location is the southern edge of where the Roosevelt Field shopping center would be built. Photographer is looking northeast.
Motor Parkway links: (1) The parkway can be seen as the curved road at the bottom of the Foto. (2) Garden City Lodge was to the east of the J-shaped road south of the parkway (today’s Vanderbilt Court). (3) LIMP Inc. headquarters on Vanderbilt Court just west of the lodge.
Date: My guess is the same as last week’s (1956), because that looks like the shopping center under construction.
Frank Femenias’s interactive LIMP map was a big help in solving this one. First I looked for a place where the LIMP has a gentle curve in it, then I looked for a big circular structure. What is that thing anyway?
Sure looks like Roos. Field a’bornin’ ca. 03 Oct 1956), with the Gard. City sewer{?} facility and the super’s house at lower left, looking NNE from over the Stewart School. Clinton bridge would have been at left and lodge driveway still there, as are lotsa posts. Can’t quite spot Kienzle’s ghost. (My, this *HAS* been a busy Sunday!) Sam, III
I think we are looking north in Garden City with the LIMP right-of-way visible from left to right in the section between Clinton Road and today’s Raymond Court. Also in the photo are: the General Manager’s office; Garden City Lodge; and many concrete posts. A portion of this section was recently in the news for being graveled over for a parking lot. The Roosevelt Field Mall (upper right corner) appears to be near completion so I’ll guess the date to be late 1955 or 1956.
this appears to be a shot on the LIMP just East of Clinton Rd. The photographer is viewing the scene from the south. I could be wrong, of course, but the sump south of the ROW seems to give it away
Art Kleiner:
Looking north at Garden City. Roosevelt Field being built on the upper right.
Motor Parkway roadway, Motor Parkway GM office, Garden City lodge, Motor Parkway Posts.
1955
Garden City, looking NNE. Motor Parkway Manager’s house at 1 Vanderbilt Court can be seen in lower left corner. Also seen is the Garden City Lodge but its porte cochere appears missing. That’s a mystery by itself because both the lodge and porte cochere survived, and are now located at 7th Street, Garden City (Garden City Chamber of Commerce). Development of the Roosevelt Field Mall Macy’s parking lot in upper right corner can be seen under construction. The cars by the construction site appear 1950s. This photo is likely ~1955 during Roosevelt Field Mall construction. The running track in the lower right corner is location of today’s baseball field that recently had a parking lot built over the Motor Parkway Right-of-Way, covering the roadway with blue stone gravel. MISTAKE, Garden City!!!
It’s necessary to zoom into the photo with your favorite program, to see all the details in this spectacular photo.
Frank; The Garden City lodge now has a replica port cochere on it. It didn’t survive and was replicated when the lodge was moved to its present spot as the Chamber Of Commerce.
Thanks Greg! I was unaware the original porte didn’t survive. I’ve seen photos of it still standing post 1938 with new homeowners occupying the house. Why that heavy structure was ever removed is mind boggling!
Fascinating details in this aerial. Thanks Howard for posting a zoomed photo revealing the Garden City Lodge porte cochere (with flag pole in the center driveway). The lodge is not visible in this photo, likely the evergreen tree blocking the lodge’s view. The lodge was just east of the porte cochere. Thank you Howard for all you do with keeping Long Island History alive!