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All the United States West Virginia St Marys Willow Island Disaster Memorial

Willow Island Disaster Memorial

A memorial honoring those who perished in one of the worst construction disasters in U.S. history.

St Marys, West Virginia

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Robert Titus
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This memorial was dedicated in 2000.   rbt45769 / Atlas Obscura User
This is the cooling tower where the tragedy occurred in 1978.   rbt45769 / Atlas Obscura User
The view of the cooling tower months after the collapse.   New York Times Magazine photographer, December 3, 1978.
The Willow Island station is a short distance from the memorial.   rbt45769 / Atlas Obscura User
A high school student helped organize the construction of the memorial.   rbt45769 / Atlas Obscura User
The memorial is shaped like a cooling towers.   rbt45769 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

On April 27, 1978, at 10 a.m., a concrete pour into one of the towers at Pleasants Power Station ended in disaster. The crane hoisting buckets of concrete fell toward the inside of the tower. The concrete that had been poured during the previous day began to collapse and unravel. As the concrete fell, the scaffolding supporting the workers fell into the center of the tower. Fifty-one workers were killed in the accident. The incident has been considered one of the worst construction disasters in the nation's history.

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Memorials

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The memorial is 18 miles north of Parkersburg, West Virginia on State Route 2. It's five miles south of Saint Marys, West Virginia also on State Route 2. It is open year-round, free of charge. A picnic table and benches are also on site.

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rbt45769

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September 17, 2019

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Willow Island Disaster Memorial
WV-2 and Mc Elroy Run Road
St Marys, West Virginia, 26170
United States
39.370391, -81.28476
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