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The Lannin Walk Part 2

Fall 2013

Life after baseball

Although Mr. Lannin was best known as a former owner of the Boston Red Sox and other minor league teams, my great-grandfather’s life passions were developing real-estate, owning and operating a string of luxury hotels and golf courses, to his ownership of Roosevelt Field where Charles A. Lindbergh took off in the Spirit of St. Louis, and raising a family.

With the loving support of his wife Hannah, Mr. Lannin raised two children and instilled in them the importance of giving back to those less fortunate and their community. Many questions were raised when he “fell” from the ninth floor of one of his hotels in Brooklyn, NY; questions that my team along with our online followers will seek to answer as The Lannin Walk Part 2 continues the story of Mr. Lannin’s life after baseball and the mystery surrounding his death.

Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Cooperstown, NY

Tour stops to include:

  • Buffalo - JJ also owned the Federal League’s Buffalo Bisons team (1915-1920) and the Providence Grays team. The Bisons won pennants in 1915 & 1916 matching his World Series victories in the same years with the Boston Red Sox.
  • Niagara Falls - JJ and his family visited Niagara Falls often when they would travel to Dixville Notch, NH for summer vacations from their home in Garden City, Long Island, NY, and during his visits to see his Buffalo Bisons team.
  • Cooperstown - To review historical records, photographs, and memorabilia related to JJ’s ownership of the Boston Red Sox from 1913-1916.

New York City

Tour stops to include:

  • Broadway - New Amsterdam Theatre and The Lambs® Club – JJ’s only son Paul was a Broadway composer, conductor, lyricist, and musician. During Paul’s career he worked with George and Ira Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Fred and Adele Astaire, Vincent Youmans, and The Ziegfeld Follies and he was a member of The Lambs® from 1921-1953.
  • Other Lannin properties, sponsor locations, and city landmarks.

Brooklyn and Long Island

Tour stops to include:

  • The Hotel Granada site in Brooklyn - The hotel had been owned by JJ and is the site where he died. He “fell” mysteriously from the ninth floor on May 15, 1928. Since the hotel was demolished in 1994, a commemorative plaque will be placed at the site.
  • Pilgrim State Hospital in Brentwood - JJ’s wife Hannah died here on April 10, 1954. In 2005, Christopher discovered that his great-grandmother Hannah Lannin had been buried in the hospital’s potter’s field because no next-of-kin could be located upon her death. For over 50 years, family members believed Hannah was laid to rest beside JJ and her children at the Holy Rood Cemetery family plot in Westbury, NY.
  • Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury - On October 20, Hannah Lannin’s remains will be respectfully moved so that she will lay in peace with JJ for all eternity, together, as they intended.
  • Garden City Hotel - The Garden City Hotel was JJ’s “treasured piece of real estate.” This hotel was where his family lived… where his only daughter Dorothy married Harry Tunstall… where Charles A. Lindbergh spent the eve of his transatlantic flight… and it was where JJ built the Salisbury (Golf) Links in 1918 which quickly grew into a 5-course complex called “the Sports Center of America.” 

It was also the site of the early Vanderbilt Cup Races.
  • Roosevelt Field - Charles Lindbergh departed in the “Spirit of St. Louis” on his famous flight, May 20, 1927, from JJ’s Roosevelt Field which became known as the “Cradle of Aviation.”
  • Eisenhower Park, East Meadow - The former estate of Dorothy Lannin, built posthumously by JJ as a wedding gift for his only daughter, now houses Billie Jean King’s “Women’s Sports Foundation” headquarters.

Asheville, North Carolina

(credit: Biltmore)
  • Biltmore Estate - A tour of the Vanderbilt estate to commemorate JJ’s hosting of the family’s early Cup Races and then travel in a vintage 1915 automobile to downtown Asheville.
  • City County Plaza - A proclamation from the City of Asheville will officially mark the successful conclusion of The Lannin Walk.

 

The Lannin Walk Part 1 – 2012

A 410-Mile Walking & Hiking expedition from Lac-Beauport, Quebec to Boston, MA

 

April 30 – Lannin Walk Leg 1 (194 miles)

  • Departed Lac-Beauport, Quebec, birthplace of JJ Lannin.

Completion of Leg 1 – May 12

  • Arrived in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, location of The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel formerly managed and owned by JJ Lannin.

    Balsams Grand Resort Hotel

May 9 – Lannin Walk Leg 2 (216 miles)

Arrived in Boston – May 25 – touched the wall at Fenway Park at 4:33pm

Arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. JJ was the owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1913-1916 during which time he saw his team win two consecutive World Series titles — the most consecutive wins by any Red Sox owner in history. And, it was JJ who sold the Boston Red Sox to Harry Frazee that brought forth the era of the “Curse of the Bambino.”

Tour stops included:

  • Fenway Park
  • Site of Braves Field – Known as Boston University Field after 1953, and presently known as Nickerson Field. Originally, it was Braves Field where JJ hosted the 1915 & 1916 World Series, so he could accommodate more Red Sox fans.