New London School

While the rest of the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, New London, Texas was feeling pretty wealthy with the finding of oil boosting Rusk County's economy. Little did they know, they would be in as deep a depression as the everyone else. March 18, 1937 the buildup of natural gas in the crawlspace beneath the school building had reached it's peak. A mere 13 minuets before the last bell, releasing all the students, the gas ignited, creating an explosion that many say caused the walls to heave outward and the roof to fly skyward. When the roof fell, the walls collapsed. Between 296 and 319 students and faculty died as a result of the explosion. Grief stricken parents filed out of a nearby building, were a PTA meeting was being held, hoping against hope that their children were safe. Luckily for some the 1st through 4th grades had been let go early, but for many the final school bell never tolled.