Bath, Michigan

Bath School disaster

On May 18, 1927, in what became known as the Bath School disaster, Andrew Kehoe, a farmer and local school board member angry over losing an election for town clerk and under notice for foreclosure, killed his wife, detonated bombs in his house and farm buildings, and at the same time set off a bomb in the consolidated school. He drove to the school in a truck rigged with more explosives, which he detonated next to the school superintendent. In all, Kehoe killed 44 people, 38 of them children, and himself, in the worst school mass murder in U.S. history. Only half of the 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of explosives set under the school went off, probably greatly lowering the death toll. Thirty-eight of the 314 students, three teachers, the superintendent, the postmaster, and a local farmer assisting at the scene were killed. Most of the deceased were students from second to sixth grade. Fifty-eight others were injured.^[7][8][9]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Bath had a population of 2,841. The median age was 36.1 years. 21.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.1 males age 18 and over.^[12][13]

58.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 41.9% lived in rural areas.^[14]

There were 1,259 households in Bath, of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.0% were married-couple households, 18.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[12]

There were 1,371 housing units, of which 8.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.3%.^[12]