Recording a tragic event as it was, the best little museum in East Texas in located in New London (near Kilgore).
A little museum full of photos and artifacts is a wonderful memorial to those involved in the New London school explosion in 1937 (which killed and maimed over 400 students, teachers and employees).

Check out: www.NewLondonSchool.org

Wikipedia has a film clip of the post-event tragedy.

My grandmother was in third grade and had just moved from New London approximately 3 months before the explosion.

She and her family had moved from Haskell, Tx the year before when my great-grandfather got a job in the oil fields there in early 1936. He then moved his family to the Talco field (SE of Paris, TX) in late '36/early '37 when his brother-in-law sent him a letter saying he could get him a slightly better job up there. They then settled in Talco for the rest of their lives.

My grandmother remembers hearing about the explosion and (I believe) still has letters from some of her friends telling her about other friends/acquaintences that had died or were injured.

That was one seriously bad deal.

What's amazing is how many changes came from that tragedy, the main one being the odor that's now injected into the gas so that you can smell it.

Understand, it took almost two generations in the area to heal psychologically from it all.

Bop read one sad report from the late 1930's where a few months after the explosion the New London H.S. Band reorganized as best it could.

On out of town football game trips they would exited their bus and formed up to march, but it was noticeable to host townfolk that some of the New London band members were limping, missing fingers and bore recognizable facial scars.
Band members held their composure but the author stated..."you just knew they were still hurting deep down inside."

It saddens Bop to even write this.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that this incident directly led to the formation of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and the resulting licensure requirements for engineers in the state.

quote:

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In March 1937, a faulty gas connection caused a school explosion in New London, Texas that killed an estimated 298 people. Public pressure called for legislation to register engineers since it was believed that poor engineering had been at least partly to blame for the accident. The Texas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers was created by Senate Bill 74, 45th Legislature, Regular Session, in 1937. This law, named the Texas Engineering Practice Act, prohibited any person from practicing or offering to practice as an engineer unless licensed by the board.

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My grandmother was in the 1st grade there at New London during the explosion. Luckily, the 1st graders had gathered for an assembly instead of in class and all survived.

Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler was still a couple of weeks away from being ready to open when the event happened. With a skeleton crew & limited supplies, however, they took in children from the blast, and my grandmother was one of those original patients.

My grandmother has never been to the museum, but my wife and I have will be taking her this fall while her memory and vision are still good enough to experience it properly.

For a small Texas community in 1937 it had to be like a Pearl Harbour or a 9/11 attack had hit that school.

Just get into the time frame (no TV coveage) nor global mass media.

My grandfather, like all area men, drove his oilfield truck over from Arp to help with rescue efforts.

He absolutely would not talk about it, ever. I didn't know there was a museum there; will check it out next time I go home to visit.

Little museum also has an excellent home-style cooked meals 11-2 Mon-Thur - tel (903) 895-4602 for daily menu.

To dine ? Better get there before 12:10 noon since older school kids get thirty minutes for off campus lunch (if they so prefer).

[This message has been edited by BeBopAg (edited 9/21/2011 4:59p).]