Tag Archives: Georgia Disasters

The Tift County School Bus Crash of 1959

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A gravestone engraved with the name 'Leroy Tabor' and the years '1953 - 1959'.
Memorial for Leroy Tabor (1953-1959), St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Tift County

The Tift County School Bus Crash of 1959 happened nearly 70 years ago, but is still remembered by many as the county’s worst tragedy. Nine children lost their lives. Becky Taylor’s 2019 Tifton Gazette article about the anniversary of the crash highlighted survivors who still had vivid memories of the day. Two siblings who died that day, Leroy and Billy Tabor, are buried at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.

Leroy Tabor, victim of school bus crash of 1959, Tift County, Georgia.
Leroy Tabor, public domain image via Find a Grave.

On the morning of 3 March 1959, a school bus carrying Black students to the segregated Tift County Industrial (now J. T. Reddick) and Wilson High and Elementary schools, plunged into the cold waters of a farm pond on Lower Brookfield Road, which was in the process of being paved at the time. The fact that the bus was overcrowded didn’t cause the wreck, but got significant attention in the press. Estimates ranged from 60-100 students on the bus. No one knows for sure, but it was definitely overcrowded, according to survivors. Driver Doyle Jones, “who had been making the bus route rounds for 23 years, said his bus hit two bumps in succession on the dirt road, causing him to lose control. The bus turned over on its right side and plunged into the water The vehicle was about two-thirds submerged.”

Per the Associated Press: “Fortunately, the bus was not alone on the road. Carl Lowry and Charles Ahrens were in a car behind the vehicle. Jack Withers saw the accident as he drove by. Ambulances and authorities were telephoned…” The driver had kicked out the windshield and with the help of students began pulling people out of the wreckage.

Gravestone of Billy Tabor, engraved with his name and dates 1950 - 1959, situated on grassy ground.
Memorial for Billy Tabor (1950-1959), St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Tift County

Those whose lives were lost were: Gloria Jean Davis, Age 7; Leroy Tabor, Age 7; Rufus Harrell Greene, Age 8; Henry Edward Johnson, Age 8; Bobby King, Age 8; Billy Tabor, Age 9; Bernice Henderson, Age 14; Artie Lee Simmons, Age 14; and Erlene Wilcox, Age 14.

Billy Tabor, victim of school bus crash of 1959, Tift County, Georgia.
Billy Tabor, public domain image via Find a Grave .

Kelly Barnes Dam Break Memorial, Toccoa Falls

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Just above Toccoa Falls, a reservoir was created when E. P. Simpson built a rock dam to generate hydroelectric power for the surrounding area. The Toccoa Falls Institute built an earthen dam over the original rock dam in 1940 to increase power generation for its growing student population. After World War II, the reservoir, Kelly Barnes Lake, was expanded again by increasing the size of the dam. After 1957, it was discontinued as a power source but remained open as a recreational site.

After four days of heavy flooding, the dam failed in the early morning hours of 6 November 1977. The resulting torrent of water raced without much warning through the Toccoa Falls College campus, killing 39 people and injuring 60. It destroyed nine houses, 18 mobile homes, numerous college buildings, and many automobiles. It was the largest disaster in Georgia since the 1930s and devastated the community.


A memorial to the victims was placed near the falls by the class of 1986, and another monument is located near the courthouse in Toccoa. The victims were: Karen Anderson, Joey Anderson, Becky Anderson, Gerald “Jerry” Brittin, William L. “Bill” Ehrensberger, Peggy Ann Ehrensberger, Robert Ehrensberger, Kristen Ehrensberger, Kenny Ehrensberger, David Fledderjohann, Mary Jo Ginther, Brenda Ginther, Rhonda Ginther, Nancy Ginther, Tracy Ginther, Cary E. Hanna, Tiep “Tia” Harner, Robby Harner, Christopher Kemp, Cassandra Metzger, Dirksen Metzger, Jeremiah Moore, Ruth Moore, Edward E. Pepsny, Carol Pepsny, Paul Pepsny, Bonnie Pepsny, Eloise J. Pinney, Monroe J. Rupp, Jerry Sproull, Melissa Sproull, Jocelyn Sproull, Joanna Sproull, Richard J. Swires, Jaimee Veer, Mary N. Williams, Betty Jean Woerner, and Deborah Woerner.

Sidney Lanier Bridge, 2003, Brunswick

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At 7779 feet, the Sidney Lanier Bridge has the longest span of any bridge in Georgia. Reaching a height of 480 feet, it’s a replacement for the 1956 vertical-lift bridge of the same name. On 7 November 1972 the African Neptune struck the earlier bridge, resulting in ten deaths. On 3 May 1987 that bridge was again struck, this time by the Polish freighter Ziemia Bialostocka. Like Savannah’s Talmadge Bridge, the new bridge’s cable-stayed construction is more stable and allows the necessary greater height for the booming container ship traffic of the Georgia coast.

Brantley-Haynes Memorial, Toombs County

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This monument was placed memory of Bennie, Gladys, Faye & Samuel Brantley, and Franklin Haynes, who lost their lives in a boating accident at Gray’s Landing on 12 July 1956. Belinda Brantley writes: My husband had this placed, I think in the 90s. He said that he couldn’t give his Daddy (Bennie) and his sister (Gladys) anything else. My husband was in the boat also, but a bystander jumped in to save him. His mother could never find out who it was, but my husband met the man at Cornerstone Baptist one night, thanks to Roy Mimbs. He was on leave at the time of the accident, and went back to the Navy a day or two later. Like Frankie said it was a day no one that was there could ever forget.

Frankie Haynes Astrauckus recalls: I was in the accident that day at Gray’s Landing. I’ve never been back. Today online, I saw the Memorial placed there in memory of my father, Frank Haynes, Uncle Benny Brantley, cousins, Gladys, Faye and Skeets (Samuel). It’s touching and it is beautiful. Thank you to all the people who came along side our family the days following… Thank you for placing that Memorial to remind us of many things… as a community we lost family, friends and neighbors. Life changed for many of us that afternoon. The loss was profound and they are still missed by those of us who knew them. Some of them were heroes amidst the calamity. I know, I experienced what it means, “greater love has no man than this, that he that would lay down his life for his friends’. That morning as we were on the way to Gray’s Landing, Gladys, Faye and I were singing an old song, “How Far is Heaven”. (I think it was popular in the 50s). They found out- that same day!

Train Disaster Memorial, Meldrim

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This plaque was placed in memory of the 23 victims of the 28 June 1959 Seaboard Air Line railroad disaster on the Ogeechee River trestle near Meldrim. A fuel car derailed into the river and the ensuing explosion took the lives of many who had gathered on a nearby sandbar. Those who perished were: Jimmy Anderson, Elizabeth Dixon Barnes, Ted Barnes, Julian Beasley, Linda Jean Beasley, Reba Lamb Beasley, Michael Bland, Charles Carpenter, Billy Dent, Joan Dent, Edna Dixon, Frank Dixon, Barbara Hales, Claudia Johnson, L. B. Lamb, Terry Lane, Elbie Lane, Florence Lane, Leslie Lee, James Smith, Margie Hales Smith, Timothy Smith, Wayne Smith.