William Kissam Vanderbilt II was born on October 26, 1878.

A skilled sailor, he participated in yacht racing, winning the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup in 1900 with his new 70-foot yacht he had named Virginia in honor of his new bride. In 1902, Vanderbilt began construction on his own country place at Great Neck on Long Island that he named "Deepdale." However, sailing would take second place to his enthusiasm for fast cars. In 1904, Willie K Vanderbilt set a new Land Speed Record of 92.30mph in a Mercedes at the Daytona Beach Road Course at Ormond Beach, Florida. That same year, he launched the Vanderbilt Cup, the first major trophy in American auto racing. An international event, designed to spur American manufacturers into racing, the race's large cash prize drew the top drivers and their vehicles from across the Atlantic Ocean who had competed in Europe 's Gordon Bennett Cup. Held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, the race drew large crowds hoping to see an American car defeat the mighty European vehicles. However, a French Panhard vehicle won the race and fans would have to wait until 1908 when 23-year-old George Robertson of Garden City, New York became the first American to win the Vanderbilt Cup. Inshore yacht racing on Sydney Harbour, Australia Yacht racing is the sport of competitive sailing. ... Great Neck is a village in Nassau County, New York, in the USA, on the North Shore of Long Island. ... Ralph DePalma in his Packard 905 Special at Daytona Beach in 1919, courtesy Florida Photographic Collection The land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by a vehicle on land, as opposed to one on water or in the air. ... This page is about the Mercedes-Benz brand of automobiles and trucks from the DaimlerChrysler automobile manufacturer. ... Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set. ... Ormond Beach is a city located in Volusia County, Florida. ... Vanderbilt Cup race start, 1910 The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. ... Racing cars redirects here. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... One of three Gordon Bennett Cups, established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr. ... Nassau County is a suburban county in the New York Metropolitan Area east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York. ... A Panhard-Levassor was the first automobile to be introduced in Japan, in 1898 A 1920s Panhard A VBL of the French Army Panhard, originally Panhard et Levassor, is a French automobile manufacturer. ... Lord Robertson of Port Ellen For the Olympic athlete, see George S. Robertson. ... Garden City, New York is a village in central Nassau County, New York in the USA, which was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869. ...

Vanderbilt and his powerful Mercedes at Daytona (1904) courtesy Florida Photographic Collection

While a great part of his life was filled with travel and leisure activities, Willie K Vanderbilt's father put him to work at the family's New York Central Railroad offices at Grand Central Station in Manhattan. As such, in 1905 he joined other Vanderbilts on Fifth Avenue, building a townhouse at number 666. The Vanderbilt Cup auto races repeatedly had crowd control problems and at the 1906 race a spectator was killed. Seeing the potential to solve the safety issue as well as improve attendance to his race, Willie K Vanderbilt formed a corporation to build the Long Island Motor Parkway, one of the country's first modern paved parkways that could not only be used for the race but would open up Long Island for easy access and economic development. Construction began in 1907 of the multi-million dollar toll highway that was to run from the Kissena Corridor in Queens County over numerous bridges and overpasses to Lake Ronkonkoma, a distance of 48 miles. However, the tollroad was never able to generate sustainable profits and in 1938 it was formally ceded to the county governments in lieu of the $80,000 due in back taxes. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The New York Central Railroad (AAR reporting mark NYC), known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the North-Eastern United States. ... The clock in the Main Concourse © 2004 Metropolitan Transportation Authority Grand Central Terminal (often still called Grand Central Station, although technically that is the name of the nearby post office) is a train station at 15 Vanderbilt Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York, a borough of New York City, located... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Street sign at Fifth Avenue and East 57th street Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New York City. ... The Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP), also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway and Motor Parkway, was one of the first limited-access automobile highways, privately constructed on Long Island, New York. ... Lake Ronkonkoma is a census-designated place located in Suffolk County, New York. ...

Willie K. Vanderbilt

His new high-speed road complimented a train service that allowed a rapid exit from Manhattan. Becoming the first suburban automobile commuter, in 1910 Willie K Vanderbilt began work on the much more elaborate and costly "Eagles Nest" estate at Centerport, Long Island. An avid collector of natural history and marine specimens as well as other anthropological objects, he traveled extensively aboard his yacht as well as overland to numerous destinations around the globe. He acquired a vast array of artifacts for his collection during his well-documented travels and after service with the United States Navy during World War I, he published a book titled "A Trip Through Sicily, Tunisia, Algeria, and Southern France." A few years later, he engaged a curator from the American Museum of Natural History to participate with him in a scientific voyage to the Galapagos Islands. Image File history File links WillieKVOrmondBeach1904. ... Image File history File links WillieKVOrmondBeach1904. ... Centerport Harbor, November 2005 Centerport is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. ... The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... NASA Satellite photo of the Galápagos archipelago. ...

Already extremely wealthy from a Trust fund and from his income as president of the New York Central Railroad Company, on his father's passing in 1920, Willie K Vanderbilt inherited a multi-million dollar fortune. In 1925 he traded a luxury yacht for ownership of Fisher Island, Florida, a place he used as a winter residence. He built a mansion complete with docking facilities for his yacht, a seaplane hangar, tennis courts, swimming pool, and an eleven-hole golf course. In addition to this property, and his Long Island estate, Vanderbilt also owned a farm in Tennessee and Kedgwick Lodge, a hunting lodge designed for his father by architect Stanford White, on the Restigouche River in New Brunswick, Canada. Fisher Island is a census-designated place (CDP) and town located on a man-made island of the same name in both the City of Miami Beach and on unincorporated land in Miami-Dade County, Florida. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area  Ranked 36th  - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²)  - Width 120 miles (195 km)  - Length 440 miles (710 km)  - % water 2. ... Stanford White (1853-1906) Washington Square Arch New York American on June 25, 1906 Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. ... The Restigouche River (fr. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Official languages English, French (the only constitutionally bilingual province in the country) Government - Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson - Premier Shawn Graham (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 10 - Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st...

Vanderbilt and his wife Virginia had a son, William Kissam Vanderbilt III and daughters Muriel and Consuelo, the latter named for her aunt. However, the Vanderbilts separated after ten years of marriage but did not formally divorce until 1927 when he wanted to remarry. Divorce proceedings were handled by his New York lawyers while he and Rosamund Lancaster Warburton (1897-1947), a former wife of an heir to the John Wanamaker department store fortune, waited discreetly away from the media at a home in the Parisian suburb of Passy, France. When the divorce matters were complete, the couple were married at the Hotel de Ville (city hall) in Paris. Miss Muriel Vanderbilt, 1915 Muriel Vanderbilt (November 24, 1902 - December, 1982) was an American socialite and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder who was a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. ... John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838 – December 12, 1922) was a United States businessman, civic and political figure, considered the father of modern advertising. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Passy is an exclusive suburb on the Right Bank of Paris, France and traditional home to many of the citys wealthiest residents. ...

In 1933, tragedy struck the Vanderbilt family when his 26-year-old son, William Kissam III, was killed in an automobile accident in South Carolina while driving home to New York City from his father's Florida estate. His son had inherited his fathers love of fast cars and exotic travel and in his memory, Willie K Vanderbilt added a new wing to his Eagle's Nest home in Long Island to house memorabilia, trophies, and souvenirs including those from his son's African safaris. He then opened the estate for public viewing several days a week and organized his will so that that upon his death the Eagle's Nest property along with a $2 million upkeep fund would be given to Suffolk County, New York to serve as a public museum, the Vanderbilt Museum. Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32°430N to 35... For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation). ... Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... The Vanderbilt Museum is located in Centerport in Suffolk County, New York, USA. It is named for William K. Vanderbilt II and is located on the site of his 43-acre estate. ...

Willie Kissam Vanderbilt II died in early 1944 of a heart ailment and was interred in the family mausoleum at the Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island, New York. The Moravian Cemetery at 2205 Richmond Road in New Dorp on Staten Island, New York is the largest cemetery on the island. ... For other uses, see Staten Island (disambiguation) Staten Island, shown in an enhanced satellite image Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located on an island of the same name on the west side of the Narrows at the entrance of New York Harbor. ...