Construction of the Parkway was started on 06 June 1907, with the stretch from the Queens line (Lakeville Road) through Bethpage opened in 1908, and opened virtually its full length by 1911, being extended westward to Horace Harding Boulevard (today's LIE) in 1926; it closed on Easter Sunday, 1938, a victim of the adjacent toll-free Northern State Parkway.

A spur was built northwards to Jericho Turnpike in Commack, giving more convenient access to Eagle's Nest; it still exists today as Harned Road, just east of the Bonwit Inn on the east side of the Sagtikos Parkway.  It was the longest spur road built for the Long Island Motor Parkway and there was a Toll Lodge at that intersection, as well.  While the Bonwit Inn might be rumored to include in its structure that former Toll Lodge, it isn't true; the site of the lodge is at the southwest corner of the building, where the "well" stands today.

What DOES stand today is the original chimney of the earlier Deer Head/Heinie's Tavern, which shows above the roof line at the far left (west) of the front of today's building (see the left-hand picture, below):

Here is the "well", looking first north-northeast and then southeast:

 
(Both photos taken 06 Nov 99 by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnail images; click on pictures for large images.]

I deeply regret the passing of both James (Jimmy) G. Tsunis, real estate broker and co-owner of the Bonwit, on Saturday, 24 November 2001, at his home in Commack at age 69, and of genial host Charles (Charlie) J. Tsunis on Saturday, 04 August 2001, at his home in Dix Hills at age 75; they are both going to be missed.

Some old photos of the Deer Head and Heinie's Taverns and of the Bonwit Inn appear on Robert Saal's Bonwit Inn and the Motor Parkway page, as part of a more comprehensive Commack history.  Through the great courtesy of Mr. Saal, here they are, with text edited from his site:

Commack resident "Henry Shea's Aunt Sadie is caught hanging around on the corner of Motor Parkway with two friends from Brooklyn in 1912" (looking SE).  "The signpost is long gone but the information is still the same"; the second view appears to be fairly recent (looking W?):

-> Lake Ronkonkoma 10 mi
<- Great Neck      30 mi
<- New York        44 mi
<- Brooklyn        44 mi

"Sometime during the 1930's the Toll House was torn down and the Deer Head Tavern was built in its place.  The tavern was a one large open room with a fireplace at each end and a bar the length of the back wall.  The family who kept the tavern lived upstairs.  Later the tavern was taken over and became Hiney's {sic}.  The chimney of the old tavern can still be seen on the top of the roof to the left":

(Four photos from R. Saal's site - all rights reserved)
[images restored 15 Jun 05]

The Webmaster's site has a wealth of information about the Long Island Motor Parkway , with links to related sites, and also a page on the Motor Parkway Panel, dedicated to "Keeping the Long Island Motor Parkway alive in Situ and in Minds and Museums".

© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005 - All rights reserved.