These Marlinton Elementary pupils were among those who contributed $800 to the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster Fund. This school contributed the largest amount of any school in Pocahontas County and received a set of World Book Encyclopedias for their efforts. Pictured from left to right: Danny Beverage, Lottie Buzzard, Debbie Cutlip, Andy Gibson, David Friel and Miss Alice Waugh, Principal. The Buffalo Creek flood was a disaster that occurred on February 26, 1972, when the Pittston Coal Company’s coal slurry impoundment dam #3, located on a hillside in Logan County, West Virginia, burst, four days after having been declared “satisfactory” by a federal mine inspector. A torrent of thick, murky water that claimed at least 118 lives, left seven persons missing, destroyed hundreds of homes, and left thousands homeless. (Archives, Marlinton Journal Press Photo, ID: PHP001980)
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