Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1868.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 54% of U.S. towns, #78 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Manchester’s overall grade.
Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Manchester’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). Two sources give 1833.
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.
Manchester was incorporated by the Maryland General Assembly in 1833. The town was originally part of Baltimore County and became part of Carroll County when Carroll County was created in 1837 from portions of Baltimore and Frederick counties. Manchester was originally known as "Manchester Germantown"; Germantown referred to a nearby community west of Manchester that was later incorporated into the town.
Before European settlement, the area that became Manchester was occupied by the Susquehannock people. The center of town developed near the intersection of two important Native American trails, one connecting the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers and another connecting the Conewago Creek area with the Patapsco River.
In 1833, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Manchester’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1850 counted 517 people here.
How does Manchester rank for history?
Manchester is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #78 of 261 in Maryland. 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.
How old are the homes in Manchester?
15% of Manchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2012
2009
