Rand McNally General Map of Long Island

Long Island near the end of the Roaring 20s.

This superb 1929 pocket map of Long Island, published by Rand McNally & Company, captures the Gold Coast at its absolute cultural and economic zenith. The two-part composition bisects the island, providing a detailed view of the eastern reaches alongside the densely developed western end, including the coastlines of New York City and New Jersey. While “Main Through Routes” are vibrantly highlighted in red, the map’s centerpiece is the Long Island Motor Parkway, the first highway in America designed exclusively for the automobile. Every toll gate is labeled along this storied Vanderbilt Cup route, stretching from Lake Ronkonkoma to Flushing

The image offers a tactile look at the era’s transit realities, distinguishing between paved, improved, and dirt roads, while “Proposed” projects like the Sagtikos Parkway reveal the ambitious fingerprints of early 20th-century urban planning. Beyond the infrastructure, the map serves as a vibrant catalog of Jazz Age leisure; golf courses, yacht clubs, and sprawling parks are shaded in green and indexed in detail. It is a fascinating record of a playground for the American elite, captured in the final months before the Great Depression fundamentally altered the landscape of Long Island. The inclusion of Jones Beach State Park (opened in August 1929) is a poignant indicator of the proximity to Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929).