On Friday, April 13, 1928, an explosion occurred in downtown West Plains. About 60 people had gathered in the Bond Dance Hall, which was on the second floor of a building on East Main Street. The explosion was reportedly felt as far away as Pomona.
Thirty-nine people were killed in the explosion, and 22 people were injured. Twenty of those killed were never positively identified, but buried in a mass grave at Oak Lawn Cemetery in West Plains.
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To date, there is no known cause of the explosion
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