Mystery Friday Foto #31 Solved: The Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge in Central Park (Bethpage) in 1910
The Walter McCarthy Archives challenged you to solve this weekend's Mystery Foto.
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
Identify:
- The Motor Parkway bridge, its location and orientation of the photographer
Plainview Road Bridge in Central Park (now Bethpage). View looking east
- The road on top of the bridge and the road under the bridge
Plainview Road on top and the Long Island Motor Parkway under the bridge.
- Who employed the photographer?
Spooner & Wells
- The approximate date of the photo. Provide a rationale.
May 13, 1910. Bridge completed in 1908 for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Comments (6)
Congrats to David Miller, B Sanson, Steve Lucas, Brian McCarthy and George Phillippides for correctly identifying the Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge.
Kudos to Brian McCarthy for the jpeg documentation.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Photo caption:
May 13, 1910
From the original of Frank Stepanek PardingtonCollection
L.I. Motor Parkway
"Looking east under Plainview bridge"
The Plainview Road Motor Parkway Bridge during the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
The Mystery Foto view as seen in 2016.
Close-Ups
Comments
This is the Plainview rd bridge in Central Park (Bethpage). The photographer is looking east. The motor parkway went under the bridge so its classified as a “highway” bridge. This bridge was completed in time for the 1908 VCR in October. However, the facade on side of the road deck on the overpass already looks a bit weathered. The cement bridge abutments have already started to discolor and the grass on the sides of the road have reestablished itself. So hard to guess the year on this picture. Maybe 1918ish.
LIMP is up top. Just east of the Bethpage lodge. Looking south on Round Swamp Rd.
Center of Photo. Motor Parkway, Road Overhead Bridge is Plainview Road
Central Park L I NY. Photo is Looking. EAST.
I think that’s the Plainview Road bridge in Central Park (Bethpage) and the photographer is looking east. Plainview Road is on top with the LIMP going through the bridge. Maybe the LIMP corporation or Willie K. himself employed the photographer to take promotional photos. Since there is no “Please Be Careful” warning on the abutment, the date must be before 1930. Along with style of automobile in the photo, I’ll guess the date around 1920.
This is Plainview Rd HWY Bridge overpassing the LIMP in Bethpage NY. Photographer is facing east. I’ll guess that he was jobbed by the LIMP Corporation to capture images of the LIMP ROW. Also guess this was taken around 1918. Bit blurry, but the automobile appears no older than 1920. If those are Cedar Boundary Posts, then pre 1920. These were replaced with Concrete Posts after 1921. Below is 3 screenshots of this location, courtesy of this website & Google Streetview.
Plainview Rd Bridge in Central park ( now Bethpage) looking east
The road on top of the bridge was Plainview Rd and under is the Motor parkway
Date is some time after 1908, when the bridge was completed.
Photographer? Ed Spooner?
Missed that mystery train again.
Motor Parkway East under the Plainview Road Highway bridge (1908-1940s) in Bethpage State Park. Today the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway’s north lanes partially occupies this space (Map below). The Motor Parkway in this photo follows today’s Picnic Polo Rd in Bethpage Park.
Likely Motor Pkwy manager Alfred J. Kienzle hired photographer to document parkway construction progress before the Parkway’s opening in Sept 1908.
Yes Brian, cedar posts at this time!
Looking at the underpass, I realized that it was likely much wider than the new LIRR bridge in Garden City, which GC apparently required be only one lane on an otherwise 2 lane road or street. By today’s standards, LIMP was rather narrow, but not that narrow! 😊
R Troy - I was amazed to discover the Tanners Pond Rd bridge will remain one lane. More bottle-necking in the near future. ⌛
Yes, R Troy, I remember the first time approaching that RR bridge in Garden City. Caught off guard to say the least. Not a terribly busy road there, thankfully.
I just checked that RR bridge on streetview, still narrow lol. North of the LIRR is Denton Ave, New Hyde Park. Then south is Tanner Ponds Rd, Garden City. No doubt that bridge was built a long time ago.