Emilio Carranza Memorial, Tabernacle (Burglington County)

Captain Emilio Carranza Rodriguez was a famous early 20th century aviator who became a sort of unofficial peace ambassador just before he died in a tragic plan accident. He flew what was, at the time, the third-longest non-stop flight ever, from San Diego to Mexico City. He was friends with American aviator Charles Lindbergh, which earned Carranza the nickname “Lindbergh of Mexico”. It was on a flight to visit Lindbergh, among others, that Carranza would meet his demise. Carranza flew from Mexico City to Washington D.C. Where he met with president Calvin Coolidge, and then flew to New York. As he was scheduled to leave New York, thunderstorms crowded the sky, and Lindbergh himself warned Carranza not to fly, but he did anyway. He did not make it far as his plane, The Mexico Excelsior, crashed in the Pine Barrens on July 12th, 1928. The site of his crash it today marked by a tall memorial plinth that was paid for by the “Pennies of Mexican Children.” Standing in the middle of a sandy clearing in the Wharton State Forest, the spire is decorated with Aztec-style designs of a falling eagle