Manchester - South Dakota Ghost Town

MANCHESTER

NAME: Manchester
COUNTY: Kingsbury
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Manchester is quite hot from June to August, with temperatures regularly reaching 80 degrees. In the winter the town becomes quite cold, with snow a strong possibility.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer.

COMMENTS:One of the easiest ghost towns to get to, the remains of Manchester sit alongside US-14, and 425'th Avenue. On the site of what was once Manchester lies a marker memorializing the town itself.
REMAINS: Not much. Manchester was completely leveled by a 2003 EF4 tornado. A few foundations, the town pump, and the grid layout of the streets remain.

Manchester is one of the more unusual ghost towns in not just the United States, but the entire world, mainly due to its demise. This town started off its history sometime before the 1800's as Fairview. As a railroad town it soon exploded in population and a town hall, grocery stores, a lumber yard, a restaurant, a bank, a pool hall, blacksmith shops, two churches, multiple schools including Manchester High School, a hotel, a newspaper and a town pump which would be the only thing to survive the towns eventual destruction was built. Manchester itself along with nearby De Smet was intricately linked with the classic American novel "Little House on the Prairie" as Grace Ingalls Dow, the sister of the books author lived in Manchester for her entire adult life. However by this time Manchester was already beginning to decline, with people moving to nearby Huron, and De Smet. This was due to the railroad losing its importance, as well as the railroad itself posing an obstacle to expansion. Then during the Great Depression the railroad closed permanently, and despite US-14 being built soon after, as well as an automotive repair center, and gas station to accompany it Manchesters decline intensified. In 1944 Grace Ingalls Dow died of Diabetes, and was buried in nearby De Smet, and by 1986 only about 100 residents remained. That year the long closed railroad line was officially abandoned, with the tracks sold to another railroad company. In 2003 only 11 buildings, and 103 residents remained in Manchester, however this was not to last, and in a single day the town would be wiped off the map. Manchester's demise came on June, 24, 2003 when an F4 tornado formed south of Manchester. With wind speeds of at least 260 mph, and was a mile long. This tornado tracked northward right through the center of Manchester, destroying everything in its path except for the town pump. Manchester was never rebuilt after this, and in 2004 the town was officially disincorporated by the state of South Dakota. The remaining residents moved to nearby De Smet, and in 2007 a monument was erected to the town. Submitted by: Michael Taylor

Manchester is one of the more unusual ghost towns in not just the United States, but the entire world, mainly due to its demise. This town started off its history sometime before the 1800's as Fairview. As a railroad town it soon exploded in population and a town hall, grocery stores, a lumber yard, a restaurant, a bank, a pool hall, blacksmith shops, two churches, multiple schools including Manchester High School, a hotel, a newspaper and a town pump which would be the only thing to survive the towns eventual destruction was built.
Manchester itself along with nearby De Smet was intricately linked with the classic American novel "Little House on the Prairie" as Grace Ingalls Dow, the sister of the books author lived in Manchester for her entire adult life. However by this time Manchester was already beginning to decline, with people moving to nearby Huron, and De Smet. This was due to the railroad losing its importance, as well as the railroad itself posing an obstacle to expansion. Then during the Great Depression the railroad closed permanently, and despite US-14 being built soon after, as well as an automotive repair center, and gas station to accompany it Manchesters decline intensified. In 1944 Grace Ingalls Dow died of Diabetes, and was buried in nearby De Smet, and by 1986 only about 100 residents remained. That year the long closed railroad line was officially abandoned, with the tracks sold to another railroad company. In 2003 only 11 buildings, and 103 residents remained in Manchester, however this was not to last, and in a single day the town would be wiped off the map. Manchester's demise came on June, 24, 2003 when an F4 tornado formed south of Manchester. With wind speeds of at least 260 mph, and was a mile long. This tornado tracked northward right through the center of Manchester, destroying everything in its path except for the town pump. Manchester was never rebuilt after this, and in 2004 the town was officially disincorporated by the state of South Dakota. The remaining residents moved to nearby De Smet, and in 2007 a monument was erected to the town.

Submitted by: Michael Taylor

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