Mystery Foto #48 Solved: William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.‘s Deepdale Golf Club in Lake Success in 1926
Did you solve the first Mystery Foto of December? Where did the year go?
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
- Identify the club, year and location of the Mystery Foto.
Members of the Deepdale Golf Club off Lakeville Road in Lake Success in 1926. In 1925, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. engaged Charles Blair McDonald and his proteges Seth Raynor and Charles Banks to turn 200-acre of his Lake Success estate into a golf course.
- Link the Mystery Foto with the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway
William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. was sitting in the first row (6th person from the left). Vanderbilt was the founder of the Deepdale Golf Club built on 200 acres of his property on the north side of Lake Success.
- What is the current use of the building in the background?
Lake Success Village Club and Village Hall.
Comments (11)
Congrats to Steve Lucas, Art Kleiner, and Sylvia Sama for identifying the Deepdale Golf Club.
Kudos to Steve Lucas, Art Kleiner, Brian McCarthy and Sylvia Sama for recognizing Willie K. in the first row of the Mystery Foto.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
From the book "North Hempstead" by Howard Kroplick
From the book "The Missing Links-America's Greatest Lost Golf Course & Holes"
Location of the clubhouse
The Clubhouse
Aerials with the clubhouse highlighted
1926
1929
1950
1956
Long Island Expressway cutting through the Deepdale course.
Google Earth
Then & Now
1926
2017
Note: The matching features in the doorway
Comments
Thanks for the early “gift”. According to the information found on page 83 of a certain photo history of North Hempstead, this 1926 photo shows the clubhouse of the Deepdale Golf Club, built by Willie K., Jr. (first row, 6th. from left) on part of his estate in Lake Success. Currently, the address of the building is 15 Vanderbilt Drive and has been incorporated into the Lake Success Village Hall and community center.
Please permit me: I unfortunately have no clue but wish my Motor club’s membership would show up in such numbers and dress half as spiffily 😊
Identify the club, year and location of the Mystery Foto. South Side Sportsman’s Club, Oakdale. 1920/30s?
Link the Mystery Foto with the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway. Members of the club were directors of the Long Island Motor Motor and officials of the Vanderbilt Cup Races. Notably Willie K., Frederick Bourne, August Belmont and August Heckscher. Not sure if any of these are in the photo, but might be.
What is the current use of the building in the background? The original use was as an annex to the main clubhouse for housing 8 or so members. Today the building is the Nature Center of Connetquot State Park.
Well, I need to re-submit my answer for this week’s mystery photo. With the help of a fellow Motor Parkway enthusiast, I re-thought this picture and found the actual photo with citation. Turns out its a 1926 photo of the Deepdale Country Club in Lake Success with Willie K. seated in the first row, center. Obvious connections to the Motor Parkway and the Cup Races. I’m assuming the building is currently the Lake Success Village Hall.
I haven’t a clue but I’ll add a question - check out how the windows are all BARRED! Wonder why? Sam, III
Looks like the Southside Sportsman’s Club in Oakdale/North Great River
William K. Vanderbilt was a member
About 1900
No time to investigate but that looks like Willie K sitting at center bottom. This building doesn’t qualify in style for a golf clubhouse in Lake Success, especially with those bars on the windows. This may have been the former police station in Deepdale (if there was one). Being that it has survived all these years through the test of time, I’ll bet it is now Lake Success’ Village Hall. Testing my luck and looking forward to the mystery answer.
Those two sconce lanterns by the doorway are also reminiscent to modern-day police stations.
I believe this is The Links Club in Roslyn. I can say with almost certainty that C.B. Macdonald is in the first row, six from the right. Isn’t it currently being used as a clubhouse for The Links Gated Community? Sadly, I’m not sure how it ties into the Motor Parkway or Vanderbilt Cup Races.
This one was difficult. I MAY have some correct answers:
*ID Club/Year/Location… Couldn’t pinpoint this club. Thinking it may ( and still ? ) is a Golf/Polo Club building. This location may have originally been part of a Hunting Club. Early 1930"s/Nassau County.
*Foto link to VCR’s & LIMP…I believe Willy K is the 6th gentleman seated from the left ( no mustache ). To Willys right, the gentleman ( hatless ) looks like John P Morgan Jr. Okay, Top Row…I think the 8th gentleman from the left is Otto Kahn ( passed away in 1934 ). The gentleman to Ottos right sort of looks like Foxhall Keene ( other photos of him display very black hair. It appears quite grey here ). Forgive me if I’m wrong, but the gentleman ( end right/standing ) is screaming Henry Ford at me.
*Present use of Building: If it’s in relation to a Golf/Polo Club, perhaps it became part of a larger present clubhouse. Or utilized in some other way.
I’m not going to scroll down and view recent comments today ( don’t want to know anything until Tuesday ). Good Luck To All!
Sylvia Sama
Deepdale Country Club in Lake Success in 1926. Willie K. in front row, 6th from the left.
Great question Sam! What gives with those window bars on Willie K’s private property? I recall seeing a photo once, showing a lengthy ‘No Trespassing’ sign outside the iron fence that once secured the Deepdale property. It’s possible theft was an issue within the estate back in the day.
Wow! All over the map! My hunch was SS Sportsman’s but unsure so I kept my big yap shut. Willie is SIXTH from left (center), not fifth, as Steve and others noted. Still, no one has explained the barred windows in such a private, affluent setting. Research project, Howard? Sam, III
This mystery had me searching high and low, lol. Howard, The Long Island History Room at Sachem Library has all your books. The North Hempstead book is the only one I didn’t read through, darn. Such a great photo. It’s much clearer here, my guesses of some of the members are likely wrong. There must be at least a couple of them who were well known?
Likely noticed already, but would like to point out:
* The steps in the 1926 photo are either gone or blocked off by the concrete structure ( 2002 ). It appears that this is not an entrance/exit anymore.
* There are still lamps on both sides of the glass doors.
* It appears the 2 pines are blocking off the windows that were or still are barred.