From the Archives: Hindenburg Over Lake Champlain

July 2, 1936 news clipping that was used to package old medical equipment in the museum.

While maintaining the our collections, one day I moved a container of historical medical equipment and an old newspaper clipping fell to the floor. I was immediately intrigued by the headline: “Zeppelin Follows Champlain Valley After Ocean Trip”.

Along with its sister craft the LZ-130, Hindenburg, the LZ-129, was the largest flying man-made object of all time. The airship was only 80 feet shorter than the Titanic. Gigantic.

Less than a year prior to the Hindenburg Tragedy, in the summer of 1936, the Zeppelin flew over the Champlain Valley while heading south to Lakehurst. The vessel met its end in 1937 by catching fire and crashing while docking at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station.

A 1936 picture of the Hindenburg in New Jersey, just after it was built.

The Hindenburg was built in 1936 for trans-Atlantic travel. It was conceived from a line of German airships known as Zeppelins. The design was simple, a cigar-shaped rigid metal frame covered by fabric material containing individual gas cells of hydrogen.

The Hindenburg made its inaugural flight in March 1936. Several months later, it was flying from Germany to Canada and then on to Lakehurst in New Jersey. On the evening of July 1, 1936, it traveled south from Montreal to New Jersey.

At 11:05 pm on July 1, The Hindenburg flew over Plattsburgh, NY and continued along Lake Champlain at a cruising speed of 76 mph. The airship passed over Ticonderoga at 11:35 pm .

It is said that lakeshore campers gained the best view of the Zeppelin, as it was clearly visible to the naked eye from the Vermont side of Lake Champlain. An Ogdensburg woman, spending time with friends in her cottage at Thompson’s Point on the Vermont shore, said the quiet was interrupted by what sounded like “a fleet of airplanes” as it passed about 400 feet above the lake.

Research & Post by Corrina Parnapy-King. Edited by Trish Denton. Images courtesy of Saint Albans Museum.

Above are some 1936 news clippings of the historic sighting and an early 1900’s postcard predicting the possible future of travel in Saint Albans. As The Hindenburg was visible from Saint Albans, and we did have a trolley, some of the predictions were accurate. However, a subway to Fairfax, an elevated train to Highgate, a bus to Georgia, or balloons to Bakersfield…. was a bit farfetched.