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History · Manchester Township

Manchester Township’s post office opened in 1881, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Manchester Township began

When was Manchester Township founded?

1881

The Manchester Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Manchester (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 73145 years
Founding year: the first Manchester Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Manchester Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Manchester Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch Manchester Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Manchester Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Manchester Township on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Manchester Township on the 1899 USGS mapManchester Township on the 1971 USGS mapManchester Township on the 1985 USGS map1899De Smet sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Manchester Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Manchester Township.

Read it all →

Manchester was originally called Fairview; the present name honors Chester H. Manchester, the town's first postmaster. With the influence of the railroad, Manchester underwent rapid expansion, including the building of "numerous homes, a town hall, grocery stores, livery barns, a lumber yard, two grain elevators, a depot, a restaurant, a cream station, a bank, a pool hall, auto repair, blacksmith shops, gas stations, two churches, a system of township schools including Manchester High School, a hotel, a newspaper and a fabled town pump".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Manchester Township, 1881 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Manchester post office opens
  3. 1884Born hereHarvey Dunn is born here
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1954Post officeThe Manchester post office closes
By decade

Manchester Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
NOAA NWS June 2003 damage survey2003NOAA NWS June 2003 damage survey
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Manchester, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
FairviewManchester
Gone or out of use
Manchester Post Officepost officeSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 24schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Manchester Township
DowManchester

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Iroquois Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDe Smet TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEsmond Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpirit Lake Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMathews TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Manchester Township’s history

What year was Manchester Township founded?

The Manchester Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.