In 1937, the London, Texas school district was one of the richest in the US, being in the East Texas Oil Field. A million dollar showplace of a school was built ($14M in today's money) The school was built with natural gas heaters, instead of a boiler system. After a dispute with the gas supplier, the school board decided to save $36 a month by tapping into a flare gas line from a nearby oil field.
The faulty connection leaked into an air space under the new concrete and steel building. Since there was no odorant in the gas, no one noticed, though students had complained for weeks about headaches.
Two hundred and seventy students (270) sixteen (16) teachers and eight (8) others died in the explosion and aftermath. Still the worst disaster in US School history, and the third worst disaster in Texas history, after the 1900 Galveston Hurricane and the Texas City disaster.
It's sort of a strange event, that it's still not that well known. Some speculate that the loss of so many children was such a heartbreak, that no one would talk about it. Perhaps WWII overshadowed it. But there are a few long-lasting effects of the disaster.
First, the Texas Legislature immediately met and passed a requirement that all consumer natural gas should have an odorant added to detect leaks. Second, since a faulty installation caused the leak, requirements were put into place to license engineers. Basically, the reason that today you cannot call yourself an engineer in Texas unless you pass the state requirements.
Most of the reporters who showed up to the scene were told to stop reporting and help with the rescue efforts. Roughnecks came in from the oil fields with labor and equipment. The governor sent the Texas Rangers and the Highway Patrol.
One of the reporters was a 20-year-old UPI stringer from Dallas. He later covered WWII and the Nuremberg trials, and said that this was the worst story he ever reported on. His name was Walter Cronkite.
The superintendent lost a son in the explosion, but had to leave town because there were threats of a lynching.
Lawsuits were brought against the school board and the oil company who's line was tapped, both were dismissed. No one was ever held legally or financially at fault. Much different mindset than today.
The then-chancellor of Germany was so moved by the disaster, that he sent a telegram of condolence. His name was Adolph something.
I have a slight family connection. My mom's first cousin was a student there. She supposedly walked home from the school disaster, wearing only her coat, as her clothes had been burned/blown away. Mom (who would have been 7 that year, and lived 100s of miles away) recalls the adults talking about her cousin. Mom, who saw the cousin in the years after, said the cousin's face was fine, but her body was supposed to be badly scarred. Mom recalls the adults talking about whether she would ever bear or nurse children, though she did eventually have kids.
There are some holes in the family story. I have yet to find the cousin's name on survivor lists, though I found a brother. It's also unclear how she managed to find her coat and then walk away without an adult stopping her, though mass confusion is an explanation. It's also unclear why her parents would be close enough for her to walk home, yet did not react to the massive explosion.
An 80th anniversary remembrance is planned. Thoughts and prayers to the families who still mourn to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion
http://nlsd.net/index2.html
The faulty connection leaked into an air space under the new concrete and steel building. Since there was no odorant in the gas, no one noticed, though students had complained for weeks about headaches.
Quote:
On March 18 students prepared for the next day's Inter-scholastic meet in Henderson. At the gymnasium, the PTA met. At 3:17 P.M. Lemmie R. Butler, instructor of manual training, turned on a sanding machine in an area which, unknown to him, was filled with a mixture of gas and air.
The switch ignited the mixture and carried the flame into a nearly closed space beneath the building, 253 feet long and fifty-six feet wide.
Immediately the building seemed to lift in the air and then smashed to the ground. Walls collapsed. The roof fell in and buried its victims in a mass of brick, steel, and concrete debris.
The explosion was heard four miles away, and it hurled a two-ton concrete slab 200 feet away, where it crushed a 1936 Chevrolet.
Two hundred and seventy students (270) sixteen (16) teachers and eight (8) others died in the explosion and aftermath. Still the worst disaster in US School history, and the third worst disaster in Texas history, after the 1900 Galveston Hurricane and the Texas City disaster.
It's sort of a strange event, that it's still not that well known. Some speculate that the loss of so many children was such a heartbreak, that no one would talk about it. Perhaps WWII overshadowed it. But there are a few long-lasting effects of the disaster.
First, the Texas Legislature immediately met and passed a requirement that all consumer natural gas should have an odorant added to detect leaks. Second, since a faulty installation caused the leak, requirements were put into place to license engineers. Basically, the reason that today you cannot call yourself an engineer in Texas unless you pass the state requirements.
Most of the reporters who showed up to the scene were told to stop reporting and help with the rescue efforts. Roughnecks came in from the oil fields with labor and equipment. The governor sent the Texas Rangers and the Highway Patrol.
One of the reporters was a 20-year-old UPI stringer from Dallas. He later covered WWII and the Nuremberg trials, and said that this was the worst story he ever reported on. His name was Walter Cronkite.
The superintendent lost a son in the explosion, but had to leave town because there were threats of a lynching.
Lawsuits were brought against the school board and the oil company who's line was tapped, both were dismissed. No one was ever held legally or financially at fault. Much different mindset than today.
The then-chancellor of Germany was so moved by the disaster, that he sent a telegram of condolence. His name was Adolph something.
I have a slight family connection. My mom's first cousin was a student there. She supposedly walked home from the school disaster, wearing only her coat, as her clothes had been burned/blown away. Mom (who would have been 7 that year, and lived 100s of miles away) recalls the adults talking about her cousin. Mom, who saw the cousin in the years after, said the cousin's face was fine, but her body was supposed to be badly scarred. Mom recalls the adults talking about whether she would ever bear or nurse children, though she did eventually have kids.
There are some holes in the family story. I have yet to find the cousin's name on survivor lists, though I found a brother. It's also unclear how she managed to find her coat and then walk away without an adult stopping her, though mass confusion is an explanation. It's also unclear why her parents would be close enough for her to walk home, yet did not react to the massive explosion.
An 80th anniversary remembrance is planned. Thoughts and prayers to the families who still mourn to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion
http://nlsd.net/index2.html