Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)

In Memory of the Lives We Lost on Friday February 28, 1958

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 20, 2022

1. In Memory of the Lives We Lost on Friday February 28, 1958 Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Doris Faye Burchett • James Edison Carey • Glenda May Cisco • Kenneth Forrest Cisco • Paulette Cline • Sandra Faye Cline • Linda Darby • Emogene Darby • James Edward Goble • John Spencer Goble • Anna Laura Goble • Jane Carol Harris • Margaret Louise Hunt • John Harlan Hughes • Bucky Ray Jarrell • Katie Carol Jarrell • Marcella Jervis • Montaine Jervis • Thomas Roosevelt Jervis • Kathryn Justice • James L. Meade Jr. • Rita Cheryl Matney • Joyce Allen Matney • Nanny Joyce McPeek • James Thomas Ousley • Randy Wallen • John Alex Derossett: Driver

Lest we forget On Friday, February 28, 1958, at 8:10 a.m., Floyd County school bus number 27 transporting Prestonsburg Elementary and Prestonsburg High School students from the communities of Calf Creek, Cow Creek, Buffalo, Sugar Loaf, and Goble Roberts Kentucky, plunged over an embankment near Knotley Hollow into the rain swollen icy waters of the Big Sandy River. Twenty-two children survived. Twenty-six children and the school bus driver drowned. A diver from Charleston, West Virginia located the bus Sunday March 2, 1958 and the last child was recovered from the river

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 19, 2022

2. In Memory of the Lives We Lost on Friday February 28, 1958 Marker

Trophies, medals and other mementos of the lost children line the guardrail.

Click or scan to see
this page online

Saturday May 10, 1958 – 72 days after the accident.

The 23rd Psalm "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want … and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • Roads & Vehicles • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is February 28, 1958.

Location. 37° 40.334′ N, 82° 43.18′ W. Marker is in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in Floyd County. Marker is on KY-1428, 0.6 miles east of KY-302, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Prestonsburg KY 41653, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Floyd County Veterans Memorial (approx. 2.9 miles away); Greenville R. Davidson (approx. 2.9 miles away); County Named, 1799 (approx. 2.9 miles away); Civil War Event (approx. 3 miles away); Ferguson Town Branch Ferry and Dock (approx. 3 miles away); Early Commerce (approx. 3 miles away); John Graham (approx. 3.1 miles away); Prestonsburg Toll Bridge / Chesapeake & Ohio Railway System (approx. 3.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Prestonsburg.

Also see . . .
1. WKIC coverage of Floyd County School bus tragedy - 60 years ago today. Ernest Sparkman reports from the scene of the bus crash. This is the only surviving audio coverage of the event. Video includes photographs

Lives Lost in Bus Crash image. Click for full size.

via Floyd County Emergency & Rescue Squad, Inc., December 6, 2022

3. Lives Lost in Bus Crash

and footage of the search and recovery efforts. (WSGS, uploaded Feb. 28, 2018) (Submitted on December 6, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. New footage of historic Floyd County school bus accident to be shown later this year. News report on "The Very Worst Thing," a documentary about the accident. (WYMT-TV, uploaded Feb. 5, 2015) (Submitted on December 6, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

3. Prestonsburg, Kentucky, bus crash. Wikipedia entry on the disaster, which remains the deadliest school bus accident in U.S. history. (Submitted on December 6, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Bus being pulled from river image. Click for full size.

via Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs Office (CC BY 2.0)

4. Bus being pulled from river

Credits. This page was last revised on December 6, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 6, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 62 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 6, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.