The Floral Park Historical Society will host the unveiling of a historic marker to commemorate the first and only Vanderbilt Cup Race that traversed the Floral Park community, on October 8, 1904. It was one of the six Vanderbilt Cup international auto races held on Long Island between 1904 and 1910 and the first in the United States.
The festivities will be on Saturday, April 26, from noon to 2:30 p.m.; the unveiling ceremony and a short program will be at 12:30 p.m. at the triangle mini-park at the intersection of Emerson Ave. and Jericho Tpke.
Emerson Ave., between Jericho Tpke. and Lowell Ave., will be closed at noon for the event.
Howard Kroplick, Town of North Hempstead Historian and Vanderbilt Cup Race authority, is bringing his Vanderbilt Cup race car (1909) – an Alco known as the “Black Beast” that won two Vanderbilt Cup Races. It will be parked on Emerson Ave. near the triangle for everyone to see.
“The north end of the Incorporated Village of Floral Park was deemed an appropriate spot for the Vanderbilt Cup Race historic marker. It will stand in the triangle near a pedestrian bench where Emerson Ave. and Jericho Tpke. intersect, right at the turnpike route which the 1904 race followed. The triangle is a hospitable setting for the historic marker and it will be visible to passersby and vehicle traffic. The unveiling of the historic marker will enable the public to read and learn more about the rich history of the community’s past which is celebrated during May, ‘Floral Park History Month’,” said Ann Corbett, president of the Floral Park Historical Society.
Other historic markers in the village are located in front of the United Methodist Church, the first church in the village, and across from the Floral Park Library where the John Lewis Childs’ seed house stood.
The Floral Park Historical Society was chartered in 1999 and maintains a small museum and an archive in Floral Park Centennial Hall. The mission of the organization is to preserve the history of the Village of Floral Park. The historic marker is a way of educating the public about milestone events in Floral Park’s history.
This is a rain or shine event. If it rains the program will be at Reliance Firehouse on Holland Ave., north of Jericho Tpke. For information, contact Ann Corbett at 516-775-6849 or visit www.floralparkhistorical.org
