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  • Old Map of Long Island showing LIRR and South Side RR

  • Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.
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Old Map of Long Island showing LIRR and South Side RR

Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

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 #5006  by JMBethpage
 
Then how do you explain the Wading River Extension, clearly shown on the map? It was proposed in 1892 and went into service in 1895.

LIRR Map

 #5087  by Dave Keller
 
Good point.

I didn't notice the Wading River extension, I started at the west portion of the map and headed east and once I saw that combination of Suffolk Station and Central Islip both on the same map, I stopped, figuring I'd discovered the mystery.

Obviously the map maker wasn't too interested in editing and kept all sorts of old things on the map that no longer applied at the time he drew it.

I once had a Hagstrom Atlas of Suffok County from about 1975. It still showed the Suffolk Traction Co. ROW via an extension of Traction Blvd. extending from Canaan Lake in Patchogue to just behind the Holtsville Station. This line was torn out in 1919 and while the path thru the woods was still visible years later, Traction Blvd. never, ever extended beyond that portion just north of Canaan Lake. It was just a ROW trail thru the woods.

Another example of Map-Maker error.


Dave Keller

 #5109  by robertwa
 
The map seems to have disappearred now, so I'm doing this from memory.

Isn't the Wading River extension shown as a dotted line - meaning it wasn't built yet. I recall that the original plan was to extend from Port Jefferson to Riverhead and that proposal was much earlier than 1890's

Also - look at the proposed NY&Hempstead Plains RR going east from Valley Stream. I think that proposal was long gone by the mid 1880's

I'm still sticking with approximately 1879.

Bob Andersen

 #5144  by RRChef
 
It apprears to me that this map has been cut or folded as the western end and eastern end are missing. Seeing these would help date this map.

Mr. Notinmyneighborhood, we are all speculating the orgins of this map, but we have not heard from you. What can YOU tell US about this map?
Also, I seem to recall seeing a simular map on e-bay.Did this come from there?

 #5164  by JMBethpage
 
Not to belabor the point, but according to Art Huenke, the Wading River Extension was proposed in 1892 and completed by 1895. You can read his history here:

http://www.lirrhistory.com/wading.html

The WadRiv branch appears as a dashed line indicating "under construction" or "proposed" so I continue to date the map as 1892-95.

 #5167  by robertwa
 
That's not Art's webiste, it's mine :D and I do mention that there were earlier proposals - perhaps the dotted line was one of those.

Anyway, perhaps notinmyneighborhood can look real closely for a copyright date. As Dave mentioned, there is the possibility that the mapmaker "kept all sorts of old things on the map that no longer applied at the time he drew it. " so it may be later than my estimate.

 #5189  by RRChef
 
On the Western edge of the map you can make out the name "Hinsdale", this was the original name of what is now Floral Park. The Name was not changed until 1888 when the village and RR station both became Floral Park. Also, there are the letters visable " EENS" obviously being "Queens". This area did not become Nassau County until 1899.
The earliest reference to Hinsdale I can find is 1874.Wow, this is becoming obsessive!

 #5246  by NIMBYkiller
 
My bad, I was off by 8 years. Service to PW started June 23rd, 1896, not 1888....don't know if that really affects the possible time frame though...

 #5260  by JMBethpage
 
First of all, the place names on the map are unreliable. The map clearly includes "Bethpage" but there was no "Bethpage" between 1857 and 1936. The town was officially known as "Central Park." Here's the relevant bit of Bethpage history:

http://www.powertolearn.com/li_history/bethpage.html

This must be a map from before 1857 with the RR superimposed on it around 1892-95. The map could not have been created all at one time because of these inconsistencies. It appears someone started with an outdated map and added the RR routes decades later.

 #5268  by RRChef
 
JMB I was thinking the same thing. There are too many inconsistencies on this map. It is possible that this map is not from the time suggested by all here, but a reproduction that was drawn using various old maps as a guide.

 #5274  by RRChef
 
One more thing, the 1857 date doesn't work because the map shows Garden City which didn't exist before 1870. Plus it shows the layout of streets in GC. While some houses were built in the 1870's the boom in GC didn't happen until the 1890's.

I am more convinced that this map is not what it appears to be but is a reproduction drawn from many sources.

 #5277  by JMBethpage
 
I agree, remember, there were no Xerox machines in the 19th Century and good maps were a rare commodity. If you needed an updated map you would just take an old map and superimpose your updates on it. I believe we're looking at an example of this. As new towns and RR routes were built, they were added to this map. Any old towns pre-existing the start of the map retained their original names.
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