Bath, Michigan

Bath, Michigan
Census-designated place (CDP) & unincorporated community
Location within Clinton County
Bath Location within the state of Michigan Bath Location within the United States
Coordinates: 42°49′12″N 84°27′16″W
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Clinton
Township	Bath
Platted	1864
Area
• Total	6.06 sq mi (15.69 km2)
• Land	5.86 sq mi (15.18 km2)
• Water	0.20 sq mi (0.52 km2)
Elevation	824 ft (251 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,841
• Density	484.8/sq mi (187.17/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code(s)	48808
Area code	517
FIPS code	26-05880
GNIS feature ID	2583717

Bath is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Clinton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Bath Charter Township. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 2,841.

History

Bath was platted in 1864.

The community of Bath was listed as a newly-organized census-designated place for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics for the first time.

American supercentenarian Irene Dunham was born in Bath.

Bath School disaster

Main article: 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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.94 square miles (15.38 km²), of which 5.74 square miles (14.87 km²) is land and 0.20 square miles (0.52 km²) (3.37%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	2,083		—
2020	2,841		36.4%
U.S. Decennial Census

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.

58.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 41.9% lived in rural areas.

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.

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%.

Racial composition as of the 2020 census

Race	Number	Percent
White	2,548	89.7%
Black or African American	42	1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native	4	0.1%
Asian	33	1.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0	0.0%
Some other race	29	1.0%
Two or more races	185	6.5%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	123	4.3%

See also

• Bath Community Schools, which serves Bath and surrounding areas

References

Sources

• Romig, Walter (October 1, 1986) [1973]. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities (Paperback). Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814318386.

Further reading

• Wilkins, Gene H.; Ellsworth, Monty J. (2002). My Scrapbook on the Bath School Bombing of May 18th, 1927 with Many Never Before Published Photographs, Stories & Survivors' Quotes. Bath, MI: Timber Wolf. OCLC 50074882. Online transcription of the first edition.