The Pride of the Village is in the Paving
A reminder: Elsewhere on the same page, the Eagle reader sees a view of Port Jefferson harbor, bounded by tree-covered hills, and a subtitle about Roslyn that praises its "avenues of forest trees." What appealing thing is said about Hicksville?
The text shown above is followed by a cataloging of the roads already paved, those scheduled to be paved, those which have been surveyed for future paving, those which may be paved later, etc. I cannot imagine what a city dweller, looking to relocate for purposes of commuting, would make of a place that saw macadam paving as its "chief pride."
Incidentally, just what is a macadam road? The process was invented in the 19th century; it is not paving as we understand the word today. A macadam road has a base of coarse crushed stone, rolled in place, and then covered by a layer of finer crushed stone, the whole thing being kept in place (in theory) by oil, which is dripped into it as the roller goes through. The idea is that water will drain away through the paving into the ground; no drainage sewer is required. This is the way that 7th Street had been paved when my family moved to it in 1954.
Automobiles were not kind to macadam paving; they'd kick up pebbles even when driving at normal speed. The loose bluestone chips would gradually collect where the gutters once were, and kids would play with them, throwing them at each other, or building landscapes full of little boulders on which their toy soldiers had battles. Every year (I think), TOBAY would rake, oil, and roll the street. Less often, the whole mess would be scooped up and taken away, and the town would "repave" it again from scratch. Around 1959, 7th Street was finally paved properly, with asphalt.
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Following the litany of roads, the profile returns to the topic of electrifying railroad service, and the changes already underway to the LIRR properties. Other than electrification itself, the other changes were made, and they would endure until track elevation work was undertaken many years later.
Construction of a new, larger station, on the roomier land west of Jerusalem Avenue, and the simultaneous broadening of the LIRR right-of-way, was necessary to handle the anticipated increase in commuter traffic on the two-track Main Line.
The erection of a 50,000 gallon railroad water tank should have been recognized as an indication that local rail electrification was not in the offing. Such tanks were built where steam locomotives were expected to fill up with some frequency.
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The profile next speaks about utilities. It lists the number of streetlights and their candlepower, and the number of hydrants, and the range of water pressures measured at their nozzles. It credits the Village Improvement Association for its undertaking the introduction of new curbs and sidewalks, mentioning its officers: John H. Hahn, H. J. Nicklaus, and John Reinhard.
In 1908, construction of the New York and North Shore trolley line is in progress at Mineola; the Eagle mentions how it soon will reach Hicksville. Anyone who missed the full story of "Hicksville's Trolley" in August 2018's Ancient Hixtory can find it right here.
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