Long Island State Park Commission Photographs

The original photographs digitized to form this series were created and maintained by the Long Island State Park Commission (LISPC), Jones Beach State Parkway Authority (JBSPA), and Bethpage Park Authority (BPA) during the early to mid-twentieth century. Since the LISPC, JBSPA, and BPA shared headquarters and their functions were intricately intertwined, records created by these entities were retained collectively. While the records span the existence of these organizations from inception to dissolution, the bulk date from the decades when the commission and authorities were under the direction of Robert Moses.

This series consists of color and black and white digital images portraying various aspects of Long Island State parks and parkways. The images were created primarily for promotional, documentary, or reference purposes by the Long Island State Park Commission and depict a multitude of park activities, public recreation, sponsored programs, sporting events, natural damage, documentation for required maintenance and repairs to State parks and parkway property (due to fire, water, storm damage, and vandalism) and construction of bridges, parks, and parkways.

Images of parks and parkways include Belmont Lake State Park, Sunken Meadow State Park, Southern State Parkway, Caleb Smith State Park, Hempstead Lake State Park, Bethpage State Park, Caumsett State Park, Captree State Park, Jones Beach State Park, Wildwood State Park, Gilgo State Park, Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Valley Stream State Park, Connetquot River State Park, Montauk Downs State Park, Hither Hills State Park, Meadowbrook Stat Parkway, Orient Point State Park, Ocean Parkway, and Planting Fields Arboretum. Within this series are also photographs of prominent individuals captured in both candid and posed positions. Public figures depicted include Robert Moses and Guy Lombardo.

There are a combination of individual photographs as well as albums in this series. Known photographers include Eric Hedlund, F. Hyland, Ethel Urbahn, Kreiniky, and Meade C. Dobson. The bulk of the photographs are undated and are prints of Long Island Regional Archives (LIRA) negatives with LIRA accession numbers recorded on the back side of the images.

The digitized photographs that comprise this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.