Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #96 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Manchester was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 19 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 1960.
The Manchester post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manchester is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #96 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Manchester’s 11.6 sits above most of its state (74% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltManchester Methodist Episcopal Church is built
In the archive"Scenery in Manchester, Mo."
Born hereHank Arft is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Manchester.
Manchester was named by an English settler after Manchester, England. It was incorporated as a village in 1950 and then reincorporated as a fourth class city in 1959.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
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 · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 2,021 and 19,161 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manchester’s Wikipedia page.
Manchester had its own post office from 1824 to 1963.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Manchester post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Manchester is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #96 of 247 in Missouri. 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.
Three places: the Lyceum, The (listed 1979), the Manchester Methodist Episcopal Church (1983) and the Henry Avenue Historic District (2003).
1% of Manchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1977.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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