By Ashley McCarty
While the decaying vestiges of a rich history sit quietly on the busied streets of Manchester, Ohio, the ghosts of their bustling pasts still live in the memories of its residents.
Many in the community can remember what a booming metropolis Manchester once was — a nucleus of vivacity and enjoyment. The roads whirred with a steady flow of traffic, the sidewalks crowded, and the faces of businesses alight with activity and amusement. At times, Second Street smelled distinctly of popcorn, and when the bread factory flourished, it glazed the town in the delicious scent of baked goods.
Manchester is now a shadow of that former self — but the community still fervently clings to the hope that the flames of its past can be ignited in the future.
Councilwoman Christine Henderson has lived in Manchester for 66 years. Her relative, Peter Cooley, was the first Cooley to settle in Manchester in the 1790s.
Growing up, her family residence was on Fifth Street. Her grandfather, Frank Cooley, was a farmer who owned the largest of the Manchester islands. The property was farmed and had been passed through three generations.
“Before the dams were built, you could actually walk the shore of Manchester to the tip of the island. People would walk to that island and buy their produce. My Dad was in the Korean War, and he had sprouted his wings and got out of Manchester. He knew that industrialization was coming in, and farming wasn’t going to support the family. He knew he was going to have to work somewhere. He decided to move to Dayton, because he worked for a refrigerator company. Dad had promised grandpa he would come home every weekend to help with the farm. He did that for a good while, but it just didn’t work out for us to travel back and forth. It was time for me to start school, so he decided to move back to Manchester,” said Henderson.
Businesses were booming at that time in the 1960s, she said.
“In the late 60s if you didn’t come to town in your car before noon and get a parking place you would have to walk. You walked from one red light to another, just a square, up and down. We had the Lyric Theater, Bristow’s Drugstore, where they had a fountain shop. Our treat every weekend was that grandma and grandpa would park early, we would go into Bristow’s and buy the square containers of ice cream, and we would just sit and watch the people walk from corner to corner,” said Henderson.
Across the street from Bristow’s Drugstore was the E and L Restaurant.
“Lyric Theater was just two doors west of, so everybody went there to get their concessions. E and L had popcorn, ice cream and fountain drinks. There were three clothing stores, Kurt Levy, Vances and Wonderstore. We had several hardware stores, jewelers. Maw had an eatery. You name it, this little town had it,” said Henderson.
Being a river town, however, Manchester was doomed to face a recurring problem — flooding.
“It was in the 1970s. There was a flood, and people were moving things out of their businesses. I remember those clothing stores going out, and I remember them not doing very well after they came back in after the flood. Things were declining then. By the end of the 70s, things were pretty much not the same anymore. Second Street is still there, the buildings are still there, but they’re vacant. Everybody talks about the power plants — ‘oh, the power plants have devastated us.’ The power plants really didn’t start up until the 70s,” said Henderson.
The small businesses that endearingly lined the streets are now gone.
“We used to have some nice restaurants, and all of them have closed. You’ve always had the pool hall, and it’s just changed owners. We had Welded Wire; we had the pants factory. I can remember when I got married in 1974 that if you didn’t get into Himes Restaurant or E and L, workers from those factories would flood those two restaurants. It was always nice to see all the traffic, and the workers, and people working right here at home. That was a good thing, too,” said Henderson.
Henderson has many visions to revitalize the village.
“I think that we could probably capitalize on our river. We do need smaller stores, like grocery stores. We only have one gas station now, and it would be nice to have another gas station. It would be nice to have grocery stores. I think that we could capitalize maybe on campgrounds, there’s hunting season where hunters want places to stay during the season and the winter months. We’re getting a canoe and kayak launch pad at the river, and I’m getting ready to work on getting boating facilities; we do need more docks down there,” said Henderson.
Thinking of ways to bring people in and then open up some shops could be a way to wake Manchester up, she said.
“Make sure you have all the seasons covered as to what kind of shops to have. A lot of people like collecting antiques. Our museum — I know the building needs a lot of work — but that’s a part of our history, too. If we could just get everybody on the right timeline as to when to do this and do that. I would join in and do something to help bring it back,” said Henderson.
There is hope, she said.
“I really don’t like to hear the negative about Manchester. What we once were — that was for that time period. Let’s look at today at this time period. What can we do, how can we do it better? I think if everybody just takes one little, small part we can do big things here,” said Henderson.
Sandra Back, a lifelong resident, was born in Manchester almost 79 years ago, and looks back on her life growing up with a nostalgic fondness.
“I couldn’t have lived and grown up in a better time or a better place. I was born here in town on the east end of town in a place called the rock castle. It was a log house, and actually had a round rock castle out in front. My mother and father had tourist cabins there that they rented out. My grandparents owned the Islandview Tourist Camp, which was across U.S 52. My grandfather passed away before I was even born, but the place was beautiful. I still have pictures of it, it was gorgeous,” said Back.
One of her recollections on the east end was a little eatery called The Diner.
“It had the best chili that there ever was. This had to be in the late 40s. John and Eleanor Cassidy owned and ran it. Beyond it — which I was totally unaware of — was another gas station. When I was in High School, downtown was the place to be. Like Christine said, on Saturday’s you drove your car to town, tried to find a parking place in front of the store you wanted to be — and most everyone wanted to be in front of Bristow’s Drugstore — and then walk back home so you could come back at night and watch people,” said Back.
Along with having Bristow’s Drugstore, Manchester was also the home of an old-fashioned drugstore called Charlie Harwood’s.
“We’d go to the Lyric, go to Charlie’s, get a coke and a bag of popcorn. Good hot popcorn, the whole street smelled like it. You’d go to the movie for 11 cents. The police station was downtown right beside Charlie Harwood’s Drugstore, and my grandfather was a policeman at that time. In High School, I worked at Kurt’s department store, and for Snowdie Carrigan, who had a five and 10 cent store on the corner where they tore the burned buildings down. They wouldn’t close until 11 p.m., and you’d have to really hustle to get to the drugstore to get a coke before they closed,” said Back.
So much activity went on downtown, she said.
“Streets were full. Farmers would come to town to visit. It was just a good place to be. The pool room at that time was on Pike Street where First State Bank is. They had wonderful hot dogs and bologna sandwiches, but the only hang-up was that women were not allowed in the pool room. So, we’d get two or three together, knock on the door, they’d come and take our order, and when they brought our things to us, we’d sit on the curb and eat them. Just so many little things like that, nothing fancy. Other than the restaurant that was in the hotel — which is boarded up now — the library was in there at one time. The restaurant was in there, and I was impressed with the restaurant,” said Back.
While she can’t remember how old she was, she distinctly remembers the white linen cloths draped over the tables, which gave an air of elegance.
“Just really classy looking. It was located where they have the Village Christmas tree every year. If I remember right, the steps in front were curved with a nice tree on each side. Beside that was the Kroger store, Ralph Cox had the Kroger store. TV shops, furniture stores, there was Frame’s Meat Market. We had a slaughterhouse in town, and a button factory. I don’t know if they made the buttons on Fifth Street or if it was down on the river, but I know they stored the mussel shells on Fifth Street right across from the slaughterhouse,” said Back.
Any chance she got, her and her friends would venture to the pile of mussel shells and play.
“To be truthful, I can’t remember the flood, but I’m saying sometime in the 70s is when it started to go down. In the 70s I was working at the IGA when it was on Main Street, and I think that’s when I really noticed a lot of things you needed you couldn’t buy in town any longer. You had to leave town. My husband and I owned and run the Ace Hardware down here for about 13 or 14 years, and we did a tremendous business there. When we closed, there wasn’t much downtown. Restaurants would come and go, but it’s difficult for a restaurant to make it. But, I’d say probably in the 70s is when the decline started,” said Back.
To Back, there’s no comparison when it comes to the Manchester of today and of the past — but it’s still her home.
“We have the buildings — skeletons of the past. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Even though we’ve had all of these changes, this is my hometown. This is my home. I can’t do a lot anymore, but I’ll do whatever I can to support it and help. Right now, if we could just get the community to take a little more pride in their property and clean it up, I think that would help the most,” said Back.
When she is out, she hears the frequent comments — Manchester is so rundown, it’s so dirty.
“It gets under my skin. I’m proud of it regardless of what it looks like. There again, it’s not the town’s fault. Used to be, we had an older generation here that took pride. They may not have had money, but they took pride in their belongings and what they had worked for. Now, the younger generation doesn’t have that pride. Take more pride in [our village]. It doesn’t have to be in a big, flashy way, or a way that they’re recognized. Do little things. If you’re out taking a walk, take a bag and pick up some of the trash. The little things will count up, and it will show up eventually. Just, restore our pride,” said Back.
Diane Brown has lived in Manchester for 29 years. Her mother’s family, the Edgington’s, were some of the original founding fathers.
“[I’ve lived] 29 years in Manchester, but I’m 66-years-old, and I just lived two miles east on a farm. I’m the daughter of farmers. We spent many weekends in Manchester. We would go down and find a parking spot. I am known around Manchester as one of the oldest cheerleaders for Manchester because I have a lot of school spirit. I have three daughters that have graduated from Manchester High School. I just want my daughters and my grandchildren to be proud to come back to Manchester, and for it to not look bad. I want it to be better. I don’t want them to have a negative feeling about Manchester,” said Brown.
Her uncle, Ralph Cox, owned the IGA downtown on Second Street.
“We would go every Saturday and get our groceries, and when he built his new store in 1970 on Main Street, I went to work for him. That was when Welded Wire and the pants factory were still open. Every day it would be busy at lunch, and they would come in. Manchester is always going to be my home, and I just remember all of those stores. It was a boom town. You could get anything in Manchester that you needed. I really miss our old school, we graduated there. It’s still standing, and I wish something could be done with that. Because the power plants have suffered, the schools are trying to make the best of the situation. They’ve had to make cuts, but we have a good school,” said Brown.
After Manchester had declined, Brown opened a restaurant in September of 2000 called Maw Brown’s Country Mills and Catering. Unfortunately, due to bad business, she was forced to close.
“I’m hoping that we can get the town cleaned up, and things started, such as another restaurant. As our main asset, we could utilize the river. It should have been used before now. It would be nice to just get Manchester back to a positive and not a negative,” said Brown.
Moving to Adams County in 1976 from Dayton, Ohio, Randy Ballinger has a palpable passion for Manchester and its future.
“When we moved down here, I would go to West Union as opposed to going to Manchester simply because more things were available. For instance, when I needed brick, there was no place in town to buy brick. My neighbor told me to go to Maysville, so I searched around Maysville. Things were not available that I was used to from growing up in Dayton. My children all attended the Manchester School system which was up on Ninth Street at the time,” said Ballinger.
While not experiencing its heyday, Ballinger is no less fascinated and motivated by the spirit which lies dormant beneath.
“I would like to see — such as what Ripley has done — there’s a lot of restaurants, they’ve developed their riverfront and they’ve really made it a point of where people want to come to see these things. We have a lot of memorial places around Manchester. I would like to see the things associated with the river. I think that the river is the biggest draw to this town that there ever was. We also need to take these places that are burnt, tear them down and clean them up. If nothing else, just to give a green space to the town. But as long as those places are just left to go, it’s not going to be anything different than what we’re experiencing right now,” said Ballinger.
He would like to see the river used as a drawing point, and work on beautifying Manchester as a whole.
This town could really be a beautiful town, and really be operated much like Ripley is, and I think that it even has more of a draw being that it’s a smaller town and everything is right on the river. Plus, we have the islands. By having the natural history, and the history that this town has always had for well over 200 years, that’s a drawing point. So, let’s build up on that history, put shops in these empty places — even if they don’t pay rent to get started — let’s try to get people in there and build this town back up. I think it would really be a knockout,” said Ballinger.