"New London School Explosion Cenotaph" by Matchett Herring Coe

The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the London School of New London, Texas, a community in Rusk County previously known as "London." The disaster killed more than 295 students and teachers, making it the worst catastrophe to take place in a U.S. school building.

The New London School Explosion stands as the deadliest school disaster in American history and the third deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and the 1947 Texas City Disaster.