Manchester: Historical Timeline

Chronology of Manchester History, 1701-1995,
from Manchester Area Historical Society Calendars

Manchester: Historical Society | Calendar Contents | Calendar Index | Timeline

Back issues of the calendar may be purchased from the Manchester Area Historical Society (MAHS).
The Society credits the following sources: Manchester's First Hundred Years by Marie Schneider
and The Heritage of Manchester, Michigan: Biography of a Town by Esther W. Angus.

1701 Jul 24 Cadillac founds Detroit.
1805 Jan 11 Michigan becomes a territory.
1826 May 10 Pres. John Quincy Adams signs deed granting 240 acres (which is to become Manchester Village) to John Gilbert.
1834 Mar 07 Gov. George Porter approves the name for Sharon Township.
1834 May 08 Post Office established in Manchester.
1835 Mar 25 First section of original Village of Manchester platted.
1837 Jan 26 Michigan admitted to the Union as the 26th state.
1837 Apr 03 First meeting held of the Manchester Township Board.
1837 Oct 04 Second section of original Village of Manchester platted.
1846 Mar 15 Universalist Church organized in Manchester.
1846 Sep 03 Mat D. Blosser was born in Tecumseh.
1848 Jan 24 Gold discovered in California.
1853 May 01 First Main Street mill and 14 other buildings destroyed by fire.
1857 Feb 23 First donation party held for Iron Creek (Baptist) Church.
1861 Mar 19 Chauncy Waldbridge becomes postmaster.
1861 Apr 24 Manchester company departs for Civil War duty.
1862 Jun 27 First soldier from Manchester, William Aldritch, dies in the Civil War.
1862 Dec 03 First Masonic meeting held in Manchester.
1863 May 02 8th Michigan Cavalry departed Manchester in pursuit of rebel raider Brig. Gen. John Morgan.
1867 Feb 17 Manchester incorporated as a village.
1867 Feb 28 J. D. Corey introduced bill to organize Manchester as a village.
1867 Oct 17 First issue of the Manchester Enterprise published: Geo. Spaffard, editor.
1867 Nov 04 Union School opens.
1868 Mar 17 Manchester incorporated as a village.
1868 Nov 26 Mat Blosser purchases the year-old Manchester Enterprise.
1869 Nov 01 New Brewery Bridge completed on Duncan Street.
1870 Sep 23 First train comes to Manchester.
1871 Jul 28 First ";legitimate" bank opens in Manchester.
1872 Aug 17 Mack, Schmidt & Co. put new burglar alarm and fireproof safe in their German American Bank.
1873 Oct 02 John Baur sells Manchester brewery to two Indiana men.
1873 Nov 04 Post office moves from Railroad Street to Union Hall block.
1874 Jan 22 Union Livery Stable sold by Orrin Wait to Thomas J. Farrell.
1874 Apr 15 Mat Blosser agrees to print Council proceedings, 1yr for $40.
1874 Mar 22 Sharon United Methodist Church congregation organized.
1874 Jun 24 John and Fred Schaible burn first kiln of bricks.
1874 Aug 06 Fire destroys flour and paper mills in Soulesville.
1874 Aug 08 Village Council funds wooden sidewalks on east side of Beaufort St.
1874 Sep 24 Joseph Gordonier opens a blacksmith shop.
1877 Jun 29 First annual Alumni Association reunion for MHS graduates.
1879 Dec 02 Arbeiter Hall dedicated (originally built in 1867 as Goodyear Hall, later bought by the Arbeiter Society).
1882 Dec 10 New edifice on West Main dedicated for Imanuel United Evangelical Church (now Emanuel United Church of Christ).
1883 Feb 14 Volunteer Fire Department organized.
1886 Apr 07 Manchester digs out from spring blizzard.
1886 Jun 08 Council approves purchase of property on Clinton St. for Village Hall to be built.
1886 Nov 25 New iron bridge on Main Street opens.
1891 Aug 19 German Day Celebration held.
1892 Feb 10 J. H. Kingsley awarded the first contract to provide electricity to the Village.
1893 May 24 Nelson Ockrow died.
1894 Jun 29 First meeting of the Manchester Alumni Association.
1902 Jun 12 Village hit by windstorm, uprooting trees and tearing roofs off buildings.
1908 Oct 21 Council votes to have electricity available all night.
1908 Nov 01 Electricity first becomes available during nighttime hours in the Village.
1909 Feb 27 Manchester Township Library Association formed.
1909 Jun 26 Cornerstone laid for Bethel United Church of Christ.
1910 Aug 27 Manchester's first "Homecoming" held.
1912 Jan 17 St. Mary Catholic Church dedicated.
1917 Jun 07 Cyclone cuts through Sharon Twp. leaving trail of destruction.
1918 May 15 Council appropriated $50 to build bandstand between Mill and bank.
1919 Oct 01 Village begins removing all "useless hitching posts."
1920 Jan 16 Prohibition went into effect.
1920 Jun 10 Brewery on S. Macomb Street burns.
1924 Jul 22 Mill on Main Street burns to the ground for the 2nd time.
1925 Jul 31 John B. Swainson's birthday.
1941 Mar 12 Grand opening of new Widmayer Hardware.
1954 Jul First Annual Chicken Broil, a tradition begins.
1956 May 29 Union Savings and Peoples banks merge.
1963 Jun 16 Gustav Kuether ordained in sanctuary of Emanuel Church.
1964 Sep 21 Ground breaking ceremonies for Hoover Ball & Bearing Co.
1967 Apr 22 First annual Manchester canoe race.
1967 Jul 25 20th Century Club hosts lawn party for Manchesterites born before World War I.
1967 Oct 27 Faith Community Church dedicated.
1976 Dec 30 Manchester Area Historical Society incorporated.
1983 Jul 21 Blacksmith Shop dedicated as historic site.
1987 Jul 16 Gazebo dedicated and donated to Village by Manchester Area Historical Society.
1991 Sep 29 Blacksheep Tavern building burns, badly damaged.
1995 Dec 21 John B. Swainson Room dedicated at the John Schneider Blacksmith Shop.

Manchester: Historical Society | Calendar Contents | Calendar Index | Timeline

Updated 6/7/22 SLB; 1/23/23 SLB