Hindenburg Crash Site – Lakehurst, New Jersey - Atlas Obscura
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Hindenburg Crash Site

Lakehurst, New Jersey

The site of one of history's most indelible and horrific tragedies. 

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The iconic image of the Hindenburg in flames Wikimedia
The iconic image of the Hindenburg in flames Wikimedia
An outline marks the footprint of the Hindenburg crash site NAEC (Public Domain)
The memorial is a tiny (very easy to miss) spot I’m the middle of a massive field. You can visit it (provided you already have base access) without seeing the museum. tcgarner (Atlas Obscura User)
It’s an incredibly unassuming memorial. However, this picture actually shows what the memorial looks like from the road. tcgarner (Atlas Obscura User)
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On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg disaster took the lives of 35 people and left in its wake some of the most shocking and captivating disaster footage and photos the world will ever know.

During an attempt to land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the Hindenburg airship caught fire and disintegrated into a raging ball of fire near-instantaneously, in a display of rapid combustion unlike any other. Despite its enduring legacy as a horrific disaster, less than half of the people on board the Hindenburg actually died. 62 passengers and crew escaped with their lives.

A simple yet powerful memorial marks the site of the crash. A cement outline in the shape of the Hindenburg stretches across the airfield in the spot where the airship crash-landed in flames.

The site was declared a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1961. 

Know Before You Go

This location is on a active Naval Air Station that is part of a joint base with Fort Dix. They do offer tours of historic parts of the station which includes the crash site. The tours are conducted by the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society and are held on Wednesdays and the second and fourth Saturday of the month and requests for tours must be made two weeks in advance.

crash site disaster areas disasters memento mori
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