New London

Made it to New London yesterday on my way home. Took in the monument, the cemetery at Overton, and enjoyed soaking up a little history. I did notice that this town of 987 people has moved up in the world as their one and only convenience store in town has a Pakistani running it. Needless to say, my instructions from him on how to find the cemetery smacked of trying to get tech support from Dell computer.

I was able to ask a nice woman in the parking lot who had grown up in New London who gave excellent directions;

"You turn right, go until you come into Overton. At the stoplight, you turn right again and go until you come to the building that used to be a hospital but isn't any more, turn right again. Look for the old school and when you see it, look back over your shoulder and you'll see the cemetery right there."

She was right. Once found I spent some time walking around looking at the gravestones to find the graves of some of the children who perished in the school explosion on March 17, 1937. You can find more information about it by googling "New London School disaster" which is an excellent website outlining the events before and after the worst school disaster in U.S. history where 293 children died, 311 people died counting teachers and staff.

The town is so small I can only wonder how devastating such a disaster was to the morale, the economy, and the spirit of this once thriving town. It was definitely worth the trip and next time I go I will make sure I go when the museum is opened so I can enjoy the complete New London experience.