Est. 1921 · National Historic Landmark (designated May 23, 1968) · Intended mooring destination of the LZ 129 Hindenburg · Site associated with the May 6, 1937 Hindenburg disaster (36 dead) · Center of the U.S. Navy's rigid-airship program (Shenandoah, Los Angeles, Akron, Macon) · One of the largest single-room structures of its era
Hangar No. 1 was completed in 1921 by the Lord Construction Company, with its steel trusses erected by the Bethlehem Steel Company, as part of the U.S. Navy's lighter-than-air program at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Measuring roughly 966 feet long, 350 feet wide, and 224 feet high, with a floor area exceeding 211,000 square feet, it was one of the largest single-room structures in the world at the time and was built to shelter the Navy's giant rigid airships, including the USS Shenandoah, USS Los Angeles, USS Akron, and USS Macon.
Lakehurst became the American terminus for transatlantic commercial airship service operated by Germany's Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei. On the evening of May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled LZ 129 Hindenburg approached the Lakehurst mooring mast after a transatlantic crossing. As ground crews handled the landing lines, the airship burst into flame and was consumed within roughly half a minute. Of the 97 people aboard, 35 died, along with one member of the ground crew, for a total of 36 fatalities. The disaster — captured on newsreel film and in Herbert Morrison's anguished radio broadcast — effectively ended the era of passenger airship travel.
Hangar No. 1 was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 23, 1968, recognized for its central role in the history of American lighter-than-air aviation. The surrounding facility, long known as Naval Air Station Lakehurst, is today part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (operating as Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst), an active military installation.
The hangar remains in use. It houses a mock aircraft-carrier flight deck used for training, has hosted the East Coast Indoor Modelers and indoor free-flight model aviation for decades, and accommodates an Ocean County Vocational Technical School career institute. The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, operating in cooperation with the joint base, conducts escorted heritage tours that include the Hindenburg crash site, Historic Hangar One, and the on-base Heritage Center.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakehurst_Hangar_No._1
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/hangar-no-1-lakehurst-naval-air-station.htm
- https://www.nlhs.com/tours/
Disembodied footsteps in the raftersOppressive 'get out' sensations and uneaseAccounts of personnel fleeing the hangarSteam-like presence (attributed by Ghost Hunters to sewer gas)Feelings of paranoia in high-EMF corners
Lakehurst's haunted reputation is rooted in the Hindenburg disaster and the hangar's grim aftermath: according to local tradition documented by Weird NJ, Hangar No. 1 served as a temporary morgue, with a connecting cooler tunnel between hangars used to store the dead. Personnel quoted by Weird NJ describe persistent unease in and around the building — a former Lakehurst servicemember recalled overwhelming 'bad vibes' and an urge to leave during training inside the hangar, an air-traffic controller called the base 'haunted as hell,' and other accounts describe groups of service members abruptly fleeing the hangar during daytime exercises.
Reported phenomena cluster around auditory experiences — unexplained footsteps in the high rafters — and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere concentrated in particular corners of the structure. These accounts are anecdotal and come primarily from base personnel rather than formal investigation, and HauntBound presents them as local tradition rather than established fact.
The site received national television attention when the SyFy paranormal series Ghost Hunters filmed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in October 2009 for its fifth-season finale, 'Hindenburg Crash Site' (aired December 16, 2009; IMDb tt1400707). Because the disaster occurred on an active base, the TAPS team focused on Hangar No. 1, described as the hub of reported activity. The investigators — Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, both professional plumbers — notably identified mundane causes for some experiences, tracing a steam-like presence to sewer gas seeping through a floor drain and attributing feelings of paranoia in one corner to unusually high electromagnetic fields. They reported finding the actual crash site comparatively unremarkable, yet concluded after reviewing their evidence that activity at the broader Hindenburg site warranted the 'haunted' designation. The episode reflects the dual character of the place: a documented historic disaster site whose paranormal reputation rests on personal accounts, some of which have prosaic explanations.
Media Appearances
- Ghost Hunters (SyFy), Season 5 Episode 25, 'Hindenburg Crash Site,' aired December 16, 2009 (IMDb tt1400707)
- Weird NJ — 'Haunted Hindenburg Hangar at Lakehurst'
