4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 30 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Manning’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manning is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Manning’s overall grade.
Iowa towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Iowa town has 9.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Manning’s 196 sits above most of its state (91% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.1 points). Two sources give 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Manning’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Manning, building by building, 1886–1913
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Prior to the city's formation, the area of Manning was a swampy region occasionally used by local Iowa people for hunting. There were no nearby rivers and few trees.
The Iowa Southwestern railroad was completed in 1880. Some yards and a depot were constructed at the future location of Manning in 1881. In the same year, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad constructed a road across Iowa, south of and parallel to, the Northwest. These railroads intersected at what is now Manning. Many of these railroads went directly through where the Manning Park currently is.
Passages that mention Manning, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Manning [Iowa] ... a true record of the early surveys ... municipal history, ... and the business enterprises ..1898Read the page →
Read the text
Ballot on Incorporation, On the 17th day of February, 1882, between the hours of 9 o’clock a. m. and 6 o’clock p. m.,the above appointed commissioners did hold an election to decide on the incorporation of the Town of Manning. The result of the above ballot was that there were 17 1 votes cast in favor of incorporation and 4 votes against said incorporation, the judges thus declaring that there was a majority in favor of said incorporation.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Manning [Iowa] ... a true record of the early surveys ... municipal history, ... and the business enterprises ..1898Read the page →
Read the text
Sec. 3. The seal of the incorporated town of Manning shall be as follows: There shall be inscribed in the circle the words “Incorporated lown of Manning”, and in the center the word “Iowa,” Ordinance 2. An ordinance providing for the election of town officers. Setting the day of election on the first Monday in March of each year.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Manning, 1880 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Manning’s history
What year was Manning founded?
In 1880, according to Wikidata. Manning’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1890 counted 1,233 people here.
How does Manning rank for history?
Manning is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Manning?
4 listings: 2 historic districts, the Leet, William A., and Frederick Hassler Farmstead District and the Manning Commercial Historic District, with 30 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 30 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Manning?
43% of Manning’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1949.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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