In May 1927, the small farming community of Bath Township, Michigan, suffered the deadliest school attack in American history, and nearly a century later most Americans have never heard of it. Andrew Kehoe, a 55-year-old trained electrician and school board treasurer, spent eight months secretly wiring Bath Consolidated School with more than a thousand pounds of dynamite and military-surplus pyrotol. On May 18, 1927, he detonated the north wing at 8:45 AM, killing 38 children and 6 adults. The south wing charges never went off because of a faulty alarm clock mechanism, which spared 106 students sitting directly above 500 pounds of live explosives.
Kehoe also murdered his wife Nellie, destroyed his own farm with incendiary devices, and set off a truck bomb near the rescuers, killing Superintendent Emory Huyck, postmaster Cleo Clayton, and resident Glenn Smith. The community of Bath chose to rebuild the school on the same site. Among the families who returned was that of eight-year-old survivor Bernice Sterling, who had lost three siblings that morning.
Timeline of Events
July 1926: Andrew Kehoe is elected school board treasurer.
January 1927: Kehoe begins secretly wiring the school basement with explosives.
January to April 1927: He buys more than 1,000 pounds of dynamite and pyrotol from stores across three counties.
May 17, 1927: Kehoe sets all of the timing devices for the following morning.
May 18, 1927, 8:00 AM: Kehoe kills his wife Nellie.
May 18, 1927, 8:45 AM: The north wing of Bath Consolidated School detonates. The south wing charges fail.
May 18, 1927, 9:00 AM: The Kehoe farm is destroyed by incendiary devices.
May 18, 1927, 9:30 AM: Kehoe detonates a truck bomb near the rescuers, killing himself and three others.
May 19, 1927: More than 500 pounds of unexploded dynamite is found in the south wing.
September 1928: The new Bath School opens with enhanced safety protocols.
Historical Significance
The Bath School disaster remains the deadliest school attack in American history, worse than every incident that has followed it. Michigan wrote the first school building safety codes in direct response, covering basement security, access restrictions, and background checks for staff with building access. In 1994, at age 75, survivor Bernice Sterling testified before Congress about school safety. The Bath School Memorial Museum, established in 1975, preserves evidence including the original clock stopped at 8:45 AM. The community's cup and saucer tree, built with dishes salvaged from victims' homes, still stands as a place people travel to see. The last survivor died in 2018 at age 99.
Sources
Michigan State Police investigation records Bath school board minutes, 1926 to 1927 Store purchase receipts from Lansing, St. Johns, and Owosso Survivor testimony of Bernice Sterling, Congressional record, 1994 Bath School Memorial Museum archives
If you liked this: Episode 189, Ord, Nebraska. Another story of a schoolhouse at the center of a catastrophe, and the person who had to decide what to do next.
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history
Episode 206 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
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