Bad Axe, located in Michigan’s thumb, is an agricultural hub. It gets its name from the badly-damaged axe settlers Rudolph Papst and George Willis Pack used to build their camp on the future site of the city; now the city’s heritage is celebrated every year with the
Bad Axe Hatchet Festival, which ushers in the start of summer and the various crop festivals (bean; sugar) that follow for the duration of the growing season. The city of Bad Axe is the cultural hub of surrounding farming communities and smaller cities like Caseville and Port Austin; Bad Axe itself has just under 4,000 residents.
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