Kleiner’s Korner: The Great Automobile Parkway (aka The Motor Parkway)
Similar as to how the Motor Parkway was used in Al Velocci's 1908 Ronkonkoma map (featured here last week) the Parkway was used a year earlier in advertisements promoting the development of Wyandanch and Deer Park.
However, in this case the Parkway very much became a part of the sales effort as the ad was meant to appeal to developers, real estate agents, every day folk and even automobile manufacturers. Source: "The Chat" - September 21, 1907 and August 24, 1912.
Art Kleiner
Promoting Real Estate Development
The People's Development Co. promoted its real estate developments in the Wyandanch and Deer Park areas of Long Island in this full page, very detailed ad that appeared in "The Chat", a local Brooklyn newspaper. If you look very closely (bottom right) the company's office was located one flight up over Bohacks!
Note the "GREAT AUTO PARKWAY NOW BEING CONSTRUCTED"! Even though it shows the East River crossings and indicates mileage the Broolynite would think Suffolk County was close to Brooklyn. Actually, apart from Westbury, Nassau County doesn't even appear to exist and probably done intentionally to get people interested!
The ad detailed the reasons why "The Great Motor Parkway" would be the "most powerful factor in developing the centre of the island"!
The ad mentions a toll-gate entrance to the Parkway off of Deer Park Avenue! Was the toll-gate and/or lodge ever built?
A railroad depot was also shown as being proposed.
Deer Park was noted as being "quite a village, having 30 to 40 houses"! The Tanger Outlet in Deer Park now has more stores than the village had homes back then!
History of the Property
How the property was obtained.
Appearing separate from the ad, this notice was directed to interested parties not able to pay the entire cost of the lots at one time. If I would have known that I would have invested!
Five years later the People's Development Co. was selling poultry and fruit farms for $50 each. I'm not sure how the housing lots actually sold, however.
A fortune to be made with just under 3 acres! Sign me up!
Comments
This is wonderful! Thank you! There are houses from this period here and there in the Wy/DP area. Maybe from this company. The area was populated with “summer homes” without heat. Lots of folks from Brooklyn bought lots here to get out of the city in the summer via the LIRR mainline.