Post by texaswoodie on Mar 19, 2012 9:06:29 GMT -5
In the small East Texas oil boom town of London Texas, the worst school disaster happened on March 18, 1937. The newly built school was a result of the oil boom. It was the richest Independent School District in the U. S., some say in the world.
A natural gas leak had filled the basement of the school and began overflowing into the wood shop. Shortly after 3 PM, someone in the shop turned on an electric sander and the entire school blew up. Over 300 children and teachers died in the explosion.
One of my cousins and an aunt had already left the school and were walking home. My uncle was in the wood shop at the time. There is a picture of him and my Grandmother in the London Museum. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. God was with him and my family, he survived. My Mom and Dad lived in West Texas at the time and when they heard the news, they packed up the car and headed East. The Sheriffs Dept of each county they went through met them at the county line and gave them an escort all the way to London.
A few miles down the road from New London (the name of the town was changed) you will find a cemetery called Pleasant Hill Cemetery. If you walk through this cemetery, you will notice that stone after stone has the same death date on it.
Natural gas by itself has no odor. After this explosion, there were laws passed that all natural gas has to have a chemical mixed with it to give it and odor so that something like this never happens again.
Yesterday was the 75th Anniversary of the explosion, and I'm just rambling. But if you are interested, there is a new book out about it. The name is GONE at 3:17 by David Brown and Michael Wereschagin.
Curt
A natural gas leak had filled the basement of the school and began overflowing into the wood shop. Shortly after 3 PM, someone in the shop turned on an electric sander and the entire school blew up. Over 300 children and teachers died in the explosion.
One of my cousins and an aunt had already left the school and were walking home. My uncle was in the wood shop at the time. There is a picture of him and my Grandmother in the London Museum. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. God was with him and my family, he survived. My Mom and Dad lived in West Texas at the time and when they heard the news, they packed up the car and headed East. The Sheriffs Dept of each county they went through met them at the county line and gave them an escort all the way to London.
A few miles down the road from New London (the name of the town was changed) you will find a cemetery called Pleasant Hill Cemetery. If you walk through this cemetery, you will notice that stone after stone has the same death date on it.
Natural gas by itself has no odor. After this explosion, there were laws passed that all natural gas has to have a chemical mixed with it to give it and odor so that something like this never happens again.
Yesterday was the 75th Anniversary of the explosion, and I'm just rambling. But if you are interested, there is a new book out about it. The name is GONE at 3:17 by David Brown and Michael Wereschagin.
Curt