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B+History
History · Manchester

Manchester dates to 1807, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Manchester was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 38 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1807founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Manchester’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Manchester began

When was Manchester founded?

1807

Manchester dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 97 in 18802020 census: 1,512219 years

How historic is Manchester?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Manchester’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manchester is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Manchester’s overall grade.
Founding era1807, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.0% of homes (±3.9) · typical KY town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 38 historic buildings, 247 per 10,000 residents · typical KY town 29.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Manchester’s 247 sits above most of its state (84% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 38 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 (±3.9 points). Two sources give 1807.

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 Manchester’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Manchester Historic District takes in 38 historic buildings.Deep rootsEstablished in 1807: 219 years of Manchester.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Manchester’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Manchester’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWTBK-FM: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 38 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
38
each building in a district counts
first listed
2023
Manchester Historic District
Manchester Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Manchester Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2023

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Manchester, 1807 to 1952

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1807
    FoundingManchester is established
  3. 1813Post officeThe Manchester post office opens
  4. 1868Born hereArtishia Gilbert is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1911Born hereBert T. Combs is born here
  7. 1927Born hereRobert A. Manning is born here
  8. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Manchester came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Manchester.

Read it all →

The town was founded to be the seat of the newly formed Clay County in 1807 on a 10-acre (4.0 ha) parcel near the Lower Goose Creek Salt Works. The county court stipulated that the town be named Greenville in honor of the War of 1812 general who gave the county its name. The Greenville in Muhlenberg County had already preempted that name, however, and it was changed to "Manchester" in December. There was a local legend in the town that this was in honor of the hometown of Gen. Garrard's second wife Lucy Lees, but a prominent local family, the Hollingsworth, were originally from Manchester, England. Rennick points out that Lees was born well after the naming of the city. He opines that it is more likely that the local businessmen simply wanted a name evocative of the English industrial success.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Manchester, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
WTBK-FMDate?WTBK-FM
Today7 recent
As the sign says, this is a (narrow wooden) one-lane bridge across a mountain creek in woods near Manchester, Kentucky2020As the sign says, this is a (narrow wooden) one-lane …Insidious kudzu vines have overwhelmed this stretch of mountain woodlands near Manchester in southeastern Kentucky2020Insidious kudzu vines have overwhelmed this stretch o…Clay County Old Jail2014Clay County Old JailClay County Courthouse2014Clay County CourthouseRed Bird River Shelter Petroglyphs 12007Red Bird River Shelter Petroglyphs 1Clay County Kentucky Courthouse2007Clay County Kentucky CourthouseKYMap-doton-Manchester2004KYMap-doton-Manchester
On the map

Manchester on the map, 1952 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manchester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Manchester on the 1952 USGS mapManchester on the 1979 USGS map1952Manchester sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Manchester.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

WTBK-FM
Retake this viewWTBK-FM

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Manchester’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Manchester, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,868

Between 97 and 1,868 people in every census since 1880.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manchester’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Manchester

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bert T. CombsAmerican federal judge; governor of Kentucky · b. 1911
Artishia GilbertAmerican physician · b. 1868
Robert A. ManningAmerican politician · b. 1927
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Manchester’s post office has been open since 1813.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Flatwoods
Gone or out of use
East Manchester Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Manchester’s history

What year was Manchester founded?

In 1807, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Manchester’s post office opened in 1813, and the census of 1880 counted 97 people here.

How does Manchester rank for history?

Manchester is more historic than 72% 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 Manchester?

One place: the Manchester Historic District (listed 2023).

How old are the homes in Manchester?

5% of Manchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1977.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (6), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.