Bad Axe is a city in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Huron County in

the Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of t ...

region of the Lower Peninsula. The population was 3,021 at the 2020 census, making it the largest community in Huron County and second largest in the Upper Thumb, after Caro.

History

The city was established in 1905. The city's unusual name dates to the time of its settlement. While surveying the first state road through the Huron County wilderness in 1861, Rudolph Papst and George Willis Pack made camp at the future site of the city and found a much-used and badly damaged

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

. At Pack's suggestion, Papst used the name “Bad Axe Camp” in the minutes of the survey and on a sign he placed along the main trail. The first post office in Bad Axe was established in 1870.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , all land.

Climate

This climatic region has large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Bad Axe has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 3,129 people, 1,358 households, and 760 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,546 housing units at an average density of . The city's racial makeup was 95.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.8%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.9% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 1,358 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.0% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age in the city was 42.9 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.6% were from 45 to 64; and 20.5% were 65 years of age or older. The city's gender makeup was 46.5% male and 53.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 3,462 people, 1,418 households, and 877 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,545 housing units at an average density of . The city's racial makeup was 97.57%

, 0.26%

, 0.26% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.53% of the population. There were 1,418 households, of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were

living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males. The city's median household income was $32,125, and the median family income was $42,650. Males had a median income of $34,758 versus $20,288 for females. The city's

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $17,465. About 9.3% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 14.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Bad Axe is served by Bad Axe Public Schools, which consist of:Bad Axe Public Schools > Home
/ref> *Bad Axe Elementary. *Bad Axe Middle School * Bad Axe High School The district's George E. Greene Elementary School was shut down in 2011; Ascent High School, an alternative high school, is in its former building. The Bad Axe Elementary School is currently in the building which the district's Intermediate School occupied.

Media

Radio

Local radio stations licensed to serve Bad Axe are commercial broadcasters WLEW-AM and WLEW-FM.

FM

* WCTP 88.5 FM, Gagetown, Christian Contemporary, ''Smile FM'' * WSMB 89.3 FM, Harbor Beach, Christian Contemporary, ''Smile FM'' * WIDL 92.1 FM, Cass City, Classic Rock ''The Thumb's Only Road for Pure Classic Rock'' * WBGV 92.5 FM, Marlette, Country, ''The Thumb's Best Country'' * WHNN 96.1 FM, Bay City, Adult Contemporary, ''The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today'' * WTGV 97.7 FM, Sandusky, Classic Hits, ''The Thumb's Greatest Hits'' * WKCQ 98.1 FM, Saginaw, Country, ''The Most Country'' * WLEW 102.1 FM, Bad Axe, Classic Hits, ''Your Classic Hits Station'' * WIOG 102.5 FM, Bay City, CHR/Top 40, ''The Hit Music Channel'' * WQLB 103.3 FM, Tawas City, Classic Hits, ''Hits FM'' * WCZE 103.7 FM, Harbor Beach, Christian Country, ''Positive Country'' * WKJC 104.7 FM, Tawas City, Country ''Your Favorite Country Hits'' * WTZM 106.1 FM, Tawas City, Hot Adult Contemporary, ''The Point''

AM

* WMIC 660 AM, Sandusky (Daytime Only), Full Service/Country, ''The Thumb's Information Station'' * WSGW 790 AM, Saginaw, News/Talk, ''Your Connection to the Saginaw Valley and the World'' *

CHOK CHOK (1070 kHz, "CHOK 103.9 FM & 1070 AM") is a Canadian commercial radio station, licensed to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and owned by Blackburn Radio. The station broadcasts a country music format with local all-news radio, talk radio and s ...

1070 AM, Sarnia, Full Service/AC, ''First in Local Information'' * WJMK 1250 AM, Bridgeport, Oldies, ''MeTV FM'' * WLEW 1340 AM, Bad Axe, Country, ''The Thumb's Hottest Country'' * WKYO 1360 AM, Caro, Oldies, ''Your Greatest Hits'' * WPHM 1380 AM, Port Huron, News/Talk/Sports, ''Where the Blue Water Area Comes to Talk'' * WMAX 1440 AM, Bay City, Religious Talk, ''Ave Marie Radio'' * WIOS 1480 AM, East Tawas, News/Talk, ''Where Northeast Michigan Comes to Talk''

Newspapers

* Bad Axe and the northern thumb area are served by a daily newspaper, the ''

Huron Daily Tribune The ''Huron Daily Tribune'' is a daily newspaper in Bad Axe, Michigan. The newspaper serves Huron County, in the upper part of "The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsu ...

'' and the '' Huron County View''. * Daily editions of the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' and ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'', as well as thrice-weekly editions of the '' Bay City Times'' and ''

Saginaw News ''The Saginaw News'' is a newspaper publication based in Saginaw, Michigan, owned by MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers or Booth Michigan, a division of Advance Publications. Published on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays (alo ...

'', are also available.

Broadcast television

Huron County lies inside the Flint/Tri-Cities Television Market. Only stations available on

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

in the Bad Axe area are listed below. * WNEM 5 ( CBS/

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

) * WJRT 12 ( ABC) * WDCQ 19 ( PBS) * WEYI 25 (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

) * WBSF 46 (

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

) * WAQP 49 (Religious) * WSMH 66 ( Fox)

Infrastructure

Transportation

* * *

Notable people

* Allen James Babcock, Roman Catholic bishop; born in Bad Axe * Lilian Jackson Braun, mystery writer; lived in Bad Axe * David C. Clark, Florida state judge and legislator; born in Bad Axe * George M. Clark, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, lived in Bad Axe * Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige,

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

; born in Bad Axe * Brad Guigar, cartoonist; grew up in Bad Axe * Bob Murawski, 2009 Academy Award-winning film editor (''

The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. T ...

''); high school

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

from Bad Axe * William Potts, who added the yellow light to create the modern, three-lens traffic light; born in Bad Axe

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Official City of Bad Axe WebsiteHuron Daily TribuneBad Axe Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Cities in Huron County, Michigan County seats in Michigan Populated places established in 1870 1870 establishments in Michigan