June 14, 2026

Aftermath – Bath School Explosion – May 18, 1927

Black-And-White Photo Of Four Men Facing A Collapsed Section Of A Brick School Building, With Piles Of Bricks And Lumber Filling The Schoolyard.

Four men stand in the schoolyard debris between two damaged brick sections of the Bath Consolidated School after the May 18, 1927, bombing in Bath Township, Michigan.

That morning, school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe detonated explosives he had hidden under the building. The blast tore open parts of the school and sent bricks, beams and classroom materials into the yard. As rescue work began, investigators later found additional explosives that had not gone off.

The Bath School disaster is still remembered as the deadliest attack on a U.S. school. Final casualty totals varied in early reports, but modern accounts commonly cite 45 deaths (including Kehoe) and 58 injured.

What do you know or remember about how Bath rebuilt after 1927?

#MichiganHistory #BathSchoolDisaster #ClintonCounty #LansingArea #OnThisDay

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Michaela Nolte

Michaela is a history buff and loves to export historical markers and old buildings and seeks stories about Michigan and Great Lakes history. When she is not writing, you can find her with a good book sipping wine on the beach.

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