Mystery Foto #42 Solved: “Farmingdale State College” and the Long Island Motor Parkway in 1924
Richard Panchyk, the featured presenter at the November 7th meeting of the Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society, challenged you to solve another amazing Mystery Foto aerial.
Answers to the Mystery Foto Questions:
- What is the location and the orientation of the photographer?
Melville, looking northeast.
- Identify the school.
State Institute of Applied Agriculture- now Farmingdale State College.
- Identify the major roads.
Long Island Motor Parkway- right corner-horizontal
Broad Hollow Road (now Route 110)- right corner-vertical
Bethpage-Spagnoli Road- across the top among the trees
Melville Road
- What is the approximate date of the Mystery Foto? Provide a rationale.
1924. Rationale: # of completed school buildings and the Huntington Lodge that replaced a kiosk around 1922.
- Identify the Motor Parkway structure(s). What is unusual about the structure(s)?
Broad Hollow Road/Trolley Bridge- One of only two Motor Parkway bridges built for a trolley track.
Huntington Lodge- Although the entrance road from Broad Hollow Road is south of the Motor Parkway, the lodge is located north of the road. Another mystery: Why was the lodge called the Huntington Lodge when it was located in Melville?
Comments (14)
Congrats to Michael LaBarbera, Lindsay Bergin (see below jpegs), Brian McCarthy, B. Sansom, Tim Ivers (see jpegs), Greg O., Art Kleiner (see Kleiner's Korner), Joe Oesterle, Steve Lucas and Frank Mendyk for identifying the Melville location.
Kudos to Lindsey Bergin, Brian McCarthy, Tim Ivers, Greg O., and Frank Mendyk for identifying the very elusive Huntington Lodge.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
Location of the Huntington Lodge in 1918 and 1923 (Submitted by Al Velocci)
This application for telephone service for the "Motor Pkwy Lodge Melvile" (kiosk) was located "S.S (south side) about 400 feet wast of Melville Road".
This 1923 Fire insurance policy indicates the Huntington Lodge is "N/S (north side Motor Parkway 300 East New York Avenue">
Aerial-1930
Huntington Lodge is north of the Motor Parkway, while the Broad Hollow Road entrance/exit is south of the Parkway.
Aerial-1951
Broad Hollow Road/ Trolley Motor Parkway Bridge
Circa 1930s
Circa 1940s (The Motor Parkway was closed in 1938).
Huntington Lodge
Rather than build a lodge from scratch with a design from the now famous architect John Russell Pope, the Motor Parkway chose to purchase a pre-cut four room bungalow for the Mineola Lodge. According to my favorite co-author Al Velocci in his book "The Toll Lodges of the Motor Parkway, and Their Gatekeepers' Lives", the bungalow was ordered from Aladdin Redi-Cut Houses of Bay City, Michigan. Unlike the Russell lodges, the bungalow offered a single floor with a kitchen, dining alcove, living room, two bedrooms and space for a bathroom. The Ronkonkona Lodge and Huntington Lodge were based on the Mineola Lodge,When the Huntington Lodge was built on site in 1921, the new lodge had no electricity, no indoor toilet facilities and no central heating.
The Huntington Lodge building after it was moved off the Motor Parkway. Circa: 1949-1953
Farmingdale State College (Submitted by Lindsay Bergin)
Kleiner's Korner (Submitted by Art Kleiner)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 13, 1907
Mount Vernon Signal, April 27, 1917
New York Tribune, January 21, 1917
The Daily Missoulian, June 18, 1917
1917
1920
1952
Aerial (Submitted by Tim Ivers)
1953
Current View
Comments
Farmingdale College (the agricultural college of earlier years) looking north east sometime in the 1930s, in the distance is the Broad Hollow Road and its LIMP bridge with a trolley line underneath and off to the right, The Toll lodge and Ruland Road off to the right.
Lindsay Bergin:
• What is the location and the orientation of the photographer? East Farmingdale South of rt 110 (Broadhollow Rd) facing north.
• Identify the school. Farmingdale State College (State University of New York at Farmingdale in 1912)
• Identify the major roads. Broadhollow Rd (upper right), Melville Rd (lower portion)
• What is the approximate date of the Mystery Foto? Provide a rationale. Around 1914. The Hicks and Cutler Halls were built around then. Here’s a link with info: https://www.flickr.com/photos/farmingdalestate/5937836130
• Identify the Motor Parkway structure(s). What is unusual about the structure(s)? Broadhollow Rd bridge and Huntington Lodge. There’s also a billboard. I’m new at this so I’m not sure what’s unusual about them.
*Location/Orientation: Excellent bird’s eye view of East Farmingdale and Melville in a northwest direction.
*Major Rds.: Broad Hollow Rd and LIMP
*School: SUNY Farmingdale
*LIMP structures: Pkwy/Trolley Bridge over Broad Hollow Rd. The Huntington Lodge is at it’s original location.
*Aerial Date/Rationale: I’ll say 1930. College was established 1912. Believe the trolley service ended early 1920’s, I see dirt paths on the ROW north and south of the bridge.
Tough to say if Broad Hollow Rd is paved, but read this was done in the early 1930’s. The lodge is active on the north side of the LIMP.
Looks like The Creedmore facility off of Commonwealth Blvd in Queens,NY
Bright Beginnings child care center in Queens Village, Inc. is located on the grounds of Creedmoor Community Campus in Queens Village between Winchester Blvd. and the cross island parkway, just south of Creedmoor hospital. The photographer is looking north west the motor parkway is in the upper right in the photo. The bridge over Winchester Blvd. or one where Creedmoor hospital now stands is also there. Union turnpike has not been extended as of yet in this part of queens so I would put the time of the photo at 1920.
I Think , Farmingdale State College, At Melville Rd.
Looking northeast over the old Farmingdale Agricultural College (now the NY State Farmingdale College) about 1930. Across the bottom diagonally to the right is Melville
Road. At the top right corner appears to be the Broad Hollow Road bridge, distinguished looking having both an auto and a trolley opening (Huntington to Amityville) and to the right of the bridge it looks like the Huntington Lodge.
-What is the location and the orientation of the photographer?
Over Farmingdale looking North
-Identify the school.
Farmingdale State College/SUNY Farmingdale, known then as, The New York State School Of Agriculture on Long Island. The college was chartered in 1912 as a school of applied agriculture.
-Identify the major roads.
In the upper right, the vertical road is Broadhollow, the LIMP is the horizontal and a small sliver of Spagnoli. Melville road is in the lower portion of the photo.
-What is the approximate date of the Mystery Foto? Provide a rationale.
Trolley absence, new Huntington Lodge replacing the previous kiosk, and some of the vehicles I can make out make me want to guess sometime around 1922-1924
-Identify the Motor Parkway structure(s). What is unusual about the structure(s)?
Broad Hollow Road Bridge (This was the second Motor Parkway bridge built over a road and trolley track) and the Huntington Lodge, a pre-cut four room bungalow, for the Mineola, Huntington and Ronkonkoma Lodges.
What is the location and the orientation of the photographer?
Farmingdale, looking Northeast.
Identify the school. Depending on year:
1912 - NY State School of Agr. on LI
1920 - NY State School of Applied Agr. on LI
1924 - State Institute of Applied Agr.
1939 - State Institute of Agr.
1939+ Farmingdale State College
Current - SUNY Farmingdale
Identify the major roads.- Melville Road, Smith Street, Route 110, LIMP
What is the approximate date of the Mystery Foto? Provide a rationale.
Early 1930s, prior to the building of Thompson and Knapp Halls in 1938 and 1936
Identify the Motor Parkway structure(s). What is unusual about the structure(s)?
Broadhollow Road and Trolley Bridge. Bridge had an extra lane of which the trolley went through. Huntington Lodge, possibly Clody Farm Bridge to the west.
Prominent college buildings shown: Hicks and Cutler Halls
LIMP Bridge passes to the north of Farmingdale College. The Huntington toll lodge is to the east. We are looking north. The bridge had a separate area for the trolley to pass under.
We’re over East Farmingdale looking north / north-east with an early view of SUNY Farmingdale, then known as the NYS School of Agriculture on Long Island. Major roads are Broad Hollow Road (route 110) and Melville Road. The LIMP structures are the Huntington Lodge and the bridge over Broad Hollow Road. The bridge is unusual because it was one of only three that had a center pillar, the others being Clinton Road and Westbury Avenue. Since Knapp Hall (1937) and Thompson Hall (1938) have not yet been built on the campus and the trolley tracks on Broad Hollow Road appear to have been removed after service was ended in 1927, I’ll guess the date to be around1934-1935.
Missed Spagnoli Road in my earlier entry.
Location of photo - Farmingdale/Melville facing mostly to the north
School - Farmingdale State College
Major Roads - Broad Hollow Rd (Rt 110), Melville Rd, Bethpage/Spagnoli Rd, Huntington Railroad old trolley line, LIMP (Broad Hollow bridge and Huntington Lodge)
Date of Photo - The trolley line stopped operation in 1927 and it appears the line is abandoned in the photo. Knapp Hall was built in 1937 and is not in the photo. Thompson Hall was built in 1938 and is also not in the photo. I would date the photo as taken in the early 1930’s (1930-1935).
LIMP structures - The Broad Hollow combination road/trolley bridge, LIMP Huntington Lodge
Unusual - One of 2 LIMP trolley combination bridges, the other Westbury Ave
I’m stumped but have a feeling it’s Great Neck looking ESE
WOW again! Excellent photo submissions by all. And yet another first in photos; an actual shot of the Huntington Lodge at its original location. No porte cochere! Edith’s farm was just missed in the bottom right corner. Fabulous high resolution photo Richard!