Vanderbilt Cup Races

Solving the easiest question is the car. It looks to be a 1904/5ish Mitchell. Mitchells used many styles of radiators, but this one matches the early cars like this 1904 runabout.

Location is a bit more difficult. Search continues…

I have no idea about the car so I won’t embarrass myself with trying but HF Huettner is from Germany and owned a department store on W. Marie st in Hicksville.  I believe his first name was Henry.  As far as the location of the picture, I’m gonna guess somewhere on Division Ave in Hicksville.  That road seems broken up between Hicksville and Levittown and I can assume it was once a connected road that leads straight to the Motor Parkway.  Again, just a guess and I have nothing to back up any of it.

Where could there even be an entrance to the Motor Parkway from Hicksville?  The race routes of the Vanderbilt Cups were only temporary routes that went into Hicksville territory and weren’t actually parts of the Motor Parkway.  Otherwise, the closest most logical points of entry to the parkway nearest to Hicksville would either be Jerusalem ave or Newbridge rd.  Going by the picture I’m going to say that the vehicle is in front of the Newbridge hotel which is very close to the parkway.  There was also the “borrow pit” area near here on the south side of the parkway west of Newbridge rd opposite the hotel.  This would seemingly be a big enough area to construct an additional toll lodge for access to the parkway.  The car in question in the photo is a 1909 “Mitchell”.  H.F. Huettner, (first name Henry) owned a furniture store on the northeast corner of Marie st and Broadway.  It later became Whelan drugs.  I think he was born in Germany.

Nice postcard. 

I would assume the proposed entrance would be near the southern part of Hicksville near Orchard Road where the Motor Parkway ran.

Auto might be a 1909 Mitchell “30”.

Henry F. Huettner owned a prominent dept. store in Hicksville on the corner of E. Marie and Broadway from 1876 through the 1930s.  It sold a wide range of goods including furniture, rugs, food, millinery items and pianos.  Huettner was also involved in civic projects including an early Rolsyn power station and the Hicksville to Mineola Trolley (1909).  As written in his great grandson Charles’
autobiography Henry was born in Germany (Region Hannover, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) and supplied furnishings to the north shore estate owners, including Vanderbilt. 

Additional photos of the Huettner dept. store.

Hard to make out the wording on the grille, but I think it’s - National - an early automobile manufacturer. Think this image may have been taken near the north turn from the LIMP then onto Hicksville Rd. Turn was created for 1909 & 10 VCR. So maybe that describes the proposed entrance to motor pkwy?

Henry Frederick Huettner, born in Germany. 1900 census describes him & family owning a - Dry Goods/Grocery - at the southeast corner of Broadway & Old Country Rd. There’s a 7/11 there now, previously a Taco Bell. Below is the 1900 census, a 1914 map showing his property, a - Printing Office Hicksville Press - next door, and his place of rest. Courtesy of Wikipedia, Ancestry, Historic Map Works. : )

Assuming the Hicksville reference is correct, the photo (or sketch) was probably along the LIMP somewhere between Wantagh Avenue and Newbridge Road. The car looks like a 1911 Mitchell Touring. Henry F. Huettner was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1854 and died in 1930. He is buried in Plain Lawn Cemetery in Hicksville. At one time, he owned a building on the corner of Broadway and Marie Street in Hicksville. It’s getting late and that’s all I’ve got.

I can try to answer the first question. Those entrance would have been E of Bloomingdale Rd but W of Deadmans Curve.  I would place it around between today’s Rte 107 and Stewart Ave

I originally thought the auto was a National. I’m now pretty certain it’s a Mitchell Automobile. Don’t know the year, but likely no later than 1910.

Dunno but two possibilities:
Motor Parkway at Newbridge Rd near the Newbridge Rd hotel looking West.
Motor Parkway at Jerusalem Av near Polaris Ballfield, looking South.
It appears the auto just exited the Motor Parkway from a fork offering an east-west option. Note the walkway from the house leading to a street or driveway.

Howard, My son suggested that we check to see any of the Parkway’s officers and those on the Board of Directors had a connection to Hicksville. Didn’t find any. Decided to see if any of the stockholders did. Found one. A Mrs. Johanna Taliafero. She was one of only two women who purchased Motor Parkway stock. (Willie K’s mother, Alva Belmont, was the other.) Mrs. Taliaferro owned quite a bit of property in the Hickville area, and it appears that she lived on Jerusalem Ave. near Marie Street. I would like to think that it is her in the auto leaving her estate. I think that she knew Huttner well as one of her propertied abut his store.

Hers a link to a wonderful map of Hicksville

https://www.loc.gov/item/75694782/

Nice find, Mark D : )  The panorama maps are very detailed with building numbers and directory.