Getting to Wardenclyffe
It all started with a High School Science Project...
My first interest in Tesla was over forty years ago when an uncle helped me
build a four foot Tesla Coil for a High
School Science Project. Worked like a charm, throwing sparks several feet
and lighting florescent lamps forty feet away. Yes, I have a high regard for
Mr. Tesla. For thirtyfive years I have been near the leading edge of the
digital computer revolution in large corporations. The last twelve at an
innovative telecommunications company named Sprint.
How to kill an extra day in Manhattan?
Unexpectedly recently I had an extra day to kill in Manhattan so I
decided to see if I could find Wardenclyffe which I knew to be somewhere
on Long Island. I found no one in NYC or Long Island who had ever heard of
it. An hour on the phone with the Manhattan Public Library Reference Dept
(thank goodness they were not busy) disclosed that I must be confused with
the power plant in Niagra. They transferred me to the Phone Reference Group
where I essentially went through the same process. They finally transferred
me to the Map group where I learned only that there is a Warden Cliff Drive
just east of Rocky Point about 20 miles from Riverhead.
Went to Long Island Railroad in Penn Station and bought a round-trip to
Riverhead stop ($20.50). To get there you must take the train to Ronkonkoma
and transfer to the train to Greenport but get off at Riverhead. They had
never heard of Wardenclyffe or anyone named Tesla. The train from Ronkonkoma
to Riverhead leaves four times a day on weekdays: 9:01am, 1:37pm, 5:17pm, and
6:53pm. No one on the train to Riverhead had ever heard of Wardenclyffe but
one man knew that to get to Rocky Point you caught bus 62 at the Riverhead
train station about once each hour.
Bus 62
The bus driver never heard of any place called Wardenclyffe but he let me
out in front of a cab company just inside the east side of Rocky Point.
The cab company owner, dispatcher, and cab drivers never heard of
Wardenclyffe but on the Suffolk County Map, page 19 grid 23G, they did find
a very short street named Warden Cliff Drive along with some other cliff
drives such as Briarcliff, but there 'is nothing out there'. In short,
found no one in Rocky Point who had ever heard of Wardenclyffe.
The cabbies thought Nicole Tesla: --Wasn't that OJ Simpson's ex?
Frustrated, I took the next bus 62 back to Riverside Train Station with
hours to kill. The train from Riverside to Ronkonkoma runs four times on
weekdays: 6:08am, 12:19pm, 3:17pm, and 10:19pm.
Bad luck, good luck
Great luck, the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum is near the train
station! Bad luck, it had closed fifteen minutes earlier at 4:30pm. Good
luck, the Suffolk County Library is across the street. No one there had ever
heard of Wardenclyffe except one retirement-age volunteer who remembered
going there decades ago. But, she thought the buildings were still there but
could not remember where. --Try the reference department, and she left for
the day.
Very helpful reference department, could not find any references to
Wardenclyffe. They even opened the old and rare collection for Suffolk
County and let me go through it, no luck. Good luck, one of the reference
men had his computer and access to the web. In between helping other
customers, in a couple of hours he located your blessed site which gave
an important clue, Shoreham. A quick grab of the Suffolk County Map showed
Shoreham, page 19 grid 23G. Looking more closely in that grid, I found a
short Tesla Drive and a little longer Tower Hill Road, but they were
indexed in Brookhaven. Was I that close?
Maybe I'll try again
Unfortunately by that time, it was dark and much too late to try to go
back. Perhaps if I had known to tell the cab company I was looking for the
old Agfa building, I might have lucked out. But even then your site does not
give specific directions as to how to get to the site(s) on Long Island.
That brings me to ask two things of you:
- From the directions given above, exactly where are the buildings
and acres. It is possible that sometime in the future I may be able
to arrange an excess day while in NYC.
- Extract from the details above and the additional information
you provide the exact way to get to Wardenclyffe from Penn Station in
case other interested parties want to try to find it.
Thanks for your help and continuing interest in Nicola Tesla and his
genius.
Based on a personal letter written by
Mr. Gerald Harris,
June 1998.
To find where the Tesla Wardenclyffe Laboratory is located click
here.
Send comments
and suggestions about Tesla Page to
<bogdan@telogy.com>.