The marker at the site of the 1937 Texas School Explosion.

March 18, 2012 is the 75th anniversary of the 1937 Texas School Explosion, a massive explosion that destroyed the New London Junior Senior High School killing an estimated 296 students and teachers. The subsequent deaths of victims from injuries sustained brought the final death count to 311(*). The explosion was attributed to the odorless gas leak beneath the school building. The memorial to victims of this explosion was erected in 1939. *Due to the mobility of the people in the oil industry and lack of records, we do not know the exact number that died. Today the estimate is 319. (Photo: Ellie Goldberg, 2005)