Vanderbilt Cup Races

This is the Powell ave bridge in Central Park (today’s Bethpage).  It was classified as a “highway” bridge since the Motor Parkway went under it.  It is one of the original bridges built for the 1908 Vanderbilt cup race, so the photo was probably taken in the summer of 1908.  The photographer is facing north and the building to the left is the “motor parkway house”.  This may have been used as sleeping quarters for the workers.

I believe this is 1908 Bethpage looking north at construction of Motor Parkway’s Nibbe farmway bridge (Map below).
The Motor Parkway House was a hotel/Inn once located on Powell Avenue and built during Motor Parkway’s construction in 1908. The hotel aimed to accommodate parkway travelers reaching the mid-point between Fresh Meadows, Queens and Lake Ronkonkoma, Suffolk. I don’t know if the hotel was successful. Nearby was Richard and Ellen Foran’s Hot Dog Stand and Halfway House Tea Room located at intersection of Broadway and Motor Parkway.
Powell Avenue is approx 750ft / 0.14mi from where Nibbe’s bridge once stood. The distance in the photo corresponds. The hotel appears located on the west side of Motor Parkway in the direction towards Broadway.

.https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/thursday_april_30_2009_the_motor_parkway_house

I am by far one of the least qualified people to do this, but I am a history and Vanderbilt enthusiast and I took on the challenge. I am guessing that the photographer is pointing slightly northeast, with the Vanderbilt park slightly to the right. The road going under the bridge would become or already was Springfield Boulevard. The building is probably 223-11 Kingsbury Avenue. Im not sure how to date a photo like this, but from a 1954 aerial photo and when the parkway was built, I would think that this is in 1908.

This is looking north in Central Park/Bethpage NY. Workers are building the LIMP and the future HWY bridge at Powell Ave. This section was ready in September 1908, so maybe this in 1907. That’s the Motor Parkway House to the north & west. Gary Hammond has discovered that a Mathias Romscho managed this building in 1910. I was trying to figure out how long this building resided, but not sure if it was demolished or renovated up until the present. I screenshot 3 maps below.

Much thanks Gary Hammond for clarifying the Motor Parkway House. The bridge under construction should be Nibbe’s farmway bridge, approx 0.14 miles from the hotel, as seen in the photo. If this is the Powell bridge, I’m now confused. What am I missing. HELP!