| Make mine Air Mail! |
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| Cocoli Post Office - circa 1942 |
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| To check out other post offices in the old Canal Zone and Panama... just click below. |
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| The Cocoli Post Office opened July 1, 1941 and closed June 30 1954, Stamps back then were only 1/2 cent. When it closed people who lived in Cocoli did their mailing of letters and packages at one of the other post offices in the old Canal Zone. Many of us who lived at Cocoli went to the Naval Station Rodman Post Office. The Cocoli Post office no longer a post office remained vacant for many years. But just ahead of the termites, wasp, bats, cucarachas and rats the Boy Scouts of Cocoli Troop 13 used it briefly in the 50's until they got a better building. After the scouts moved out the building again was vacant. Then lo' and behold it opened as an Arthur Murray Cholita Dance Studio in the mid 80's. The joint really jumped on Friday and Saturday nights. Couples would dance to the wee hours of the morning to a blaring jukebox or a local invited band. The place was hot! The refreshments in the place flowed like water. Then along came the 90's and again it was silent. By then Cocoli was starting to look like a ghost town... the end was near for this once proud town site called Cocoli that had once been carved out of the dense jungle on the the west bank. But like all the old Canal Zone the hey days were counting down. The jungle creep had started moving into many of the old town sites, especially Cocoli... the Gringo was leaving... and then the Gringo left 1200 31 December 1999. |
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| Charles A. Lindberg, "The Lone Eagle" made his historical first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours non stop with zero forward visibilitiy, a maganetic compass and a pocket watch in a special plane built monoplane called the "Spirit of Saint Louis" by Ryan Aviation Comnpany. The date was May 21, 1927. Years later in 1929 Charles Lindberg flew the "Spirit of Saint Louis" to Panama and landed at a small field in Punta Paitilla. On that flight from Miami to Panama, "Slim" as his friends called him was carrying mail. In fact Charles A. Lindberg broke into flying by flying US Mail. In 1923 after leaving school he devoted his whole life to aviaiton. In 1925 he received his wings from Army Air Service Flying School. In 1926 he became a Air Mail Pilot. That year he went to Panama to do a little work for Pan-American Airways a young airline that was scouting routes in Central America. Charles A. Lindberg locked through the Panama Canal on the battleship USS Texas. He was doing a bit of work for the US Navy. He had an opportunity to fly off one of the scout planes over Panama aand the old Canal Zone. During World War II on a visit to the US Troops in the Pacific, Charles A. Lindberg shot down a Japanese Zero. Now how about that! Another less known fact is that in 1935 Charles A. Lindberg collaborated in the design and development of the first artificial heart. Today you can see the "Spirit of St. Louis" at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. If you look very closely you will see a miniture flag of Panama painted on the engine cowling cover. This is a must visit if some day you find yourself in our nations capitol. |
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| Charles A. Linberg "The Lone Eagle" Born: Detroit, Michigan February 4, 1902 - August 26, 1974 |
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| Click for the National Air and Space Museum |
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