Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1950.
The Manchester post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Manchester’s history is told.
Peaked at 131 in 1960; 52 people lived here in 2020.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manchester’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Manchester.
Manchester was laid out in 1878, and named after Manchester Township, Illinois, the former home of an early settler. Manchester was platted in 1882. A post office was established at Manchester in 1878, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1974.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Manchester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first Post-office established in the township was called Buckeye. It was originally in the township of Manchester, with James E. Smith as Postmaster, and named in honor of the pet cognomen of the native State of the Postmaster, at whose house, in section thirty, in Manchester, the office was kept. In 1860, S. B. Smith was appointed Postmaster, and the mail came by way of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Manchester was first known by the name of Oldbnrg, but was christened Buckeye at its organization. In May, 1858, it was changed to Liberty. Finally, in October fallowing, at the suggestion of Mathias Anderson, it was changed to Manchester, in honor of a place of the same name in Illinois, where Mr. A. had previously lived.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manchester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Manchester.
Nobody well known was born in Manchester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Manchester had its own post office from 1878 to 1974.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Manchester post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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 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.
