Showing Tri-Borough Bridge in the Year Before Completion
This is a vintage folding road map of Long Island, published by Standard Oil of New York (Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Inc.). Designed for the burgeoning population of motorists, the map offers a detailed representation of Long Island's road network, railroads, airports, and key points of interest, reflecting the infrastructure and culture of the early automobile age.
The map highlights the island's extensive network of roads, with different classes of highways and thoroughfares delineated in red, blue, and black. It notes the Tri-Borough Bridge (now the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), which was under construction at the time, a project spearheaded by Triborough Bridge Authority commissioner Robert Moses and completed in 1936. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, another major project associated with Moses, had not yet begun construction. Alongside roads, the map marks active railroads, airports, and airfields, underscoring Long Island's evolving transportation landscape.
Prominent landmarks and sites of cultural and historical significance are featured, including Walt Whitman's birthplace and Theodore Roosevelt's grave. The map also highlights parks such as the newly created Bethpage State Park, reflecting the era's emphasis on recreation and the expansion of public green spaces, another hallmark of Moses's legacy.