Today is the 81st anniversary of the Bath School Massacre, the largest mass murder in Michigan’s history. Forty-five people were killed on May 18, 1927, when Clinton County’s Bath Consolidated School was bombed by a local resident.
The bombing hurt the entire community – not just the people in the school at the time. According to the memories of one survivor:
“After all this happened many families left Bath. … Bath was almost a ghost town for many years.” – My Scrapbook on the Bath School Bombing of May 18th, 1927 by Gene H. Wilkins (2002), p. 56.
Much has been written about the horrific event. Two good starting points to learn more are the following Web sites.
The Bath School Disaster, managed by James L. Daggy, includes information about the victims of the tragedy, the transcript of the coroner’s inquest, a digital copy of the 1927 book The Bath School Disaster by Monty J. Ellsworth, and other links and related materials.
Ronald D. Bauerle, a family member of one of the victims, manages anther Bath School Disaster Web site. It includes photographs, transcripts of newspaper accounts of the event, and other information.
