A Mineola Crossroads

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Krug's Hotel, shown in undated photos, has long been a prime spot to watch the world go by in Mineola. Built in the 1870s at the northwest corner of Jericho Turnpike and Willis Avenue, the East Williston Hotel was run in conjunction with a barbershop and a bar. The building was purchased by Frank Krug in the 1890s, according to Jack Hehman of the Mineola Historical Society.

In the early 1900s, the Vanderbilt Cup races boosted the establishment's popularity. Not only was it a good vantage point for watching the races, but many of the contestants stayed at the hotel, Hehman said. Photographs of the race were hung in the hotel's lobby.

But the intersection was also the scene of a racing tragedy in 1906. A crowd broke through the fence at what was known as Krug's Corner just as Elliott Shepard's 130-hp Hotchkiss was approaching. Shepard slammed into the knot of people, killing Kurt Gruner of Passaic, N.J., who left a wife and two children. Two small boys were also injured. In response, the race's organizer, William K. Vanderbilt II, decided to build a toll road that could be used as a racecourse, and the Long Island Motor Parkway came into being.