LIAC Cumberland Ave Clubs -- Brooklyn History
LIAC Cumberland Ave Clubhs, interior, BE,1904

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4 of this story.

You might think that any invention as wonderful as the automobile would be embraced by everyone. Anything that could be done to improve motoring in Brooklyn, Long Island and the general New York City area would immediately be approved, and the car would take its rightful place at the head of the transportation table.

Well, if you were an early 20th century autoist; one of the first people to own an automobile, you would probably feel that way. If you were everyone else, it was going to be a much tougher sell.

The Long Island Automobile Club was founded in Brooklyn in 1900 by four wealthy men who wanted a place where they could indulge in their new hobby of racing, tinkering with, and talking about automobiles.

In a few short years, they grew in membership to several hundred car enthusiasts; all well-to-do men who could afford a custom vehicle that cost as much as many a working man’s entire yearly salary.

Like the bicycle clubs many had belonged to only a couple of years before, the LIAC sponsored races, enjoyed outings and social events, and advocated for paved roads throughout the city and out on Long Island.

After moving around quite a bit in only four or five years, in 1904, the LIAC settled down in their new clubhouse on Cumberland Street, near Atlantic Avenue. Their home was a former garage, which gave them plenty of room to grow.

They wanted the garage space anyway, and built the clubhouse around and above it, adding an additional floor and creating the perfect car enthusiast’s club. The club had room for the members to store their cars and a dedicated space for repairs.

They had skilled mechanics on staff to work on member’s automobiles. The club also had offices, a large meeting room, a comfortable lounge, a dining room, billiards and card rooms, kitchen, rest rooms, and staff quarters.

The Long Island Automobile Club was not alone. Manhattan had its Automobile Club of America, with a swanky Fifth Avenue address, and the major cities across the country also had clubs.

So did elite universities like Princeton, and unlikely cities like Utica, N.Y. In 1901, nine of the major clubs came together to form the Automobile Association of America, (AAA) as advocates for motoring, racing and by extension, better roads. The LIAC was one of the founding members.

Back in Brooklyn on Cumberland Street, the boys of the LIAC were not making friends with the neighbors. People complained that the LIAC members were rude, inconsiderate and loud.

Their cars were coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and they acted as if they owned the street. Neighbors complained that the car enthusiasts and their mechanics took the cars out on the street to test them out, and raced down the street, endangering pedestrians.

The cars often stalled out or spewed oil and gas, and according to one complainer to the Brooklyn Eagle, the mechanics would stop in the middle of the street and repair it, dumping more oil and gas onto the street.

The writer complained that Cumberland Street was a mess, the road covered with grease and oil. He opined that it was only a matter of time until someone got hurt or killed, and then there would be outrage, but it would be too late for some poor soul. Could not something be done?

The need for speed had been a major impetus for the club. There were only so many suitable roads for automobiles in Brooklyn; Ocean and Eastern Parkways, Hamilton Parkway and the Shore Road, for example.

These were well paved roads where an autoist could have some fun. But he would have to share them with plodding horses and wagons, skittish thoroughbreds and their riders, bicyclists, pedestrians and trolley cars. It was too much. They wanted their own roads.

Just about every member of the LIAC had a summer home on Long Island, somewhere. The society pages of the papers dutifully listed who went where, every summer, and most of the club’s members had large properties out on the Island. It was part of the reason the club was named “Long Island.”

Everyone looked forward to the wide open spaces where they could go as fast as they wanted for as long as they wanted. Unfortunately, the roads were not all that good.

The LIAC, along with the AAA, put great pressure on the state and local municipalities to pave and improve the roads. As we learned last time, one of the Island’s wealthiest summer residents, William Vanderbilt, had been sponsoring a road race through Long Island, a race called the Vanderbilt Cup.

After a pedestrian was killed during the race in 1906, Vanderbilt and his friends decided to build their own highway. This would be a place where they could race unimpeded. The road would also wind its way near the majority of members’ summer homes, thereby making their trips from the city to the country easier.

The highway, the Long Island Motor Parkway, was the first highway on Long Island dedicated solely for automobile traffic. It was originally planned to be 70 miles long, but only 45 miles of it, from Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma, were ever built.

It was a toll road with over and underpasses, making it possible to not have any stops or intersections. The toll houses were designed by John Russell Pope, architect of the Rotunda in the American Museum of Natural History, as well as the Jefferson Memorial. They had living quarters, as someone could come by at any time, and the attendants were on duty 24/7.

That was all well and good, but as the automobile began to take center stage, the horse and carriage, and other forms of transportation were fighting back. Horse drawn vehicles would last well into the 20th century. Out in more rural parts of Brooklyn, and certainly on Long Island, the horse would not be retired any time soon. People just couldn’t afford to live without them.

The Brooklyn Eagle ran a story in 1907 about Long Island cars, horses and the Long Island Automobile Association. The writer told of an Island farmer with his horse and wagon on a local road. All of a sudden, a bright dot appears in the sunlight.

In no time, that dot turns into a powerful roadster, which roars past the farmer in a blur of black, white or red. It’s one of the Island’s well-heeled summer residents in his European touring car, zipping past the farmer who has pulled over to the side of the road to let him pass.

It’s the past and the future, the writer notes, and thanks to the Long Island Automobile Club, there will be more and more cars on the road in Long Island, before you know it.

The Cumberland Street club’s motto is posted in their main meeting room, the reporter goes on to say. “Long Island – the Automobilist’s Arcadia,” the banner reads. The club is the natural enemy of the dollar-seeking Long Island constable, the writer states.

They’ve warned autoists in Nassau and Suffolk Counties where the speed traps are, and how to avoid them. The club had employees out across the island whose only jobs were to find those traps and warn motorists of their location.

For a group that advocated for good roads, they were quite adept at not paying for them in fines or tickets. They could certainly afford to. But the group did sponsor several great programs, including the erection of bright white and blue road signs that told travelers the distance to different towns and locations.

At the time of the article’s release, the club was working on getting a high speed road built that went through Cypress Hills Cemetery. The article also noted that William K. Vanderbilt, “Willy” to his friends, was one of the most prominent members of the club.

In 1906, a schism occurred, splitting the club. Some members wanted to resign from the AAA, and be independent. They were especially put out over the $400 that they had to pay AAA for dues. Other members thought that was a bad idea, and wanted to remain a part of the AAA.

Albert Pardington, one of the club’s most influential members, and head of Willy Vanderbilt’s Vanderbilt Cup organization, was not in favor of resigning from AAA. He was also the LIAC’s liaison with AAA.

He and several other original LIAC members resigned from the club they had founded. They thought about founding a new club, but also hoped the decision to withdraw would be cancelled.

This was no longer their chummy little club. It now had several hundred members, not all of whom thought alike. After a few years at Cumberland Street, the club was once again looking for a new home. As nice as Cumberland Street was, it wasn’t upscale enough.

They wanted to be in a better neighborhood, in a much more elegant club setting. Plus they needed the room, as they continued to grow in members. They turned to Park Slope, and in 1909, moved into a new facility on Union Street, near Grand Army Plaza.

The new building was a four story garage building. They still had their garage space on the ground floor, and three floors above for club rooms and facilities.

They were especially thrilled with the location, still single minded about the glories of Long Island driving. They called Grand Army Plaza and its nexus of roadways “the Gateway of Long Island.” The club opened its doors on March 26, 1909, and hailed as one of the finest clubs in the country.

Next time: After moving around at least five previous times, the LIAC settles into their Park Slope home. We’ll finish up the story next time with the fate of the club, and a look at all of the locations they once occupied. What happened to their old clubhouses? What happened to the Long Island Motor Parkway? As the 20th century progressed, and cars became affordable to almost everyone, who needs an elite automobile club anymore? Check out the finale, on Thursday.

(Photo: Interior of Cumberland Avenue LIAC clubhouse. Brooklyn Eagle, 1907)


Rollin’ Down the Highway, Part One

Rollin’ Down the Highway, Part Two

Vanderbilt Cup fatality, 1906. Illustration: Vanderbiltcupraces.com
Vanderbilt Cup fatality, 1906. Illustration: Vanderbiltcupraces.com
Vanderbilt Cup Race. Photo: Vanderbiltcupraces.com
Vanderbilt Cup Race. Photo: Vanderbiltcupraces.com

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