Did You Know?

by By Eric Chandlee Wilson, reprinted from the Chester County Day Newspaper from 2008.

On the late afternoon of Tuesday, March 13, 1928, Charles Lindbergh – then one of the most famous men on the planet – was forced to land his airplane in a West Bradford field, during a March fog that had settled over the area.

The unscheduled landing came just ten months after Lindbergh’s amazing transatlantic New York – Paris flight in May 1927.

Lindbergh and his traveling companion, his lawyer, splintered a fence rail on their descent, then knocked on the door of a neighboring farmhouse for a telephone and assistance. They then spent the night at Stock Grange Farm.

Word of the landing quicky spread. As crowds began to converge on the site, a local teenager was placed to guard the plane, a big Ryan monoplane and the siter ship to the famous Spriit of St. Louis.

By the next morning, hundreds had gathered for a glimpse of “Lindy”. Local school children were let out for the occasion and bused to the farm. Reporters, photographers, and newsreel cameramen came from as far as Philadelphia and New York.

Amid this “media circus”, as we would call it, Lindbergh readied his plane, then finally took off, circled the field three times, waved, and turned south toward Washington.

The Lone Eagle really did land in Chester County! The event is remembered in a road name you may pass on Chester County Day – Lone Eagle Road.

For additional details on the event (including a date discrepancy) please see this link:https://www.dailylocal.com//2008/08/07/three-local-men-remember-charles-a-lindbergh/