HistoryBody

Manchester Timeline

Prior to 18th Century	Shawnee and Delaware Indians occupy region. Many Native American trails cross this immediate area.
Late 18th Century	European explorers and settlers arrive.
1787	David Redick lays out town of Allegheny from a portion of the Reserve Tract. That area that would later become Manchester was included in this Reserve Tract land.
1832	Manchester formally laid out (named for major industrial/manufacturing city in England) in a standard grid pattern. Originally a small rural town situated along Beaver Road.
1843	Manchester formally established as a borough.
1860	Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and Manchester Railway Company founded; railway (using horse-drawn cars until 1890 with the advent of electric cars) links Manchester with Pittsburgh and Allegheny City.
1867	Manchester merges with Allegheny City. Manchester goes on to serve as industrial center of that city. Industries such as Union Salt Works, Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works, La Belle Steel, the Star Iron Works, Pittsburgh Brass Company, Allegheny County Light Company, Pittsburgh Clay Pot Company, Consumer's Ice Company, and Hall and Speer Plough Works, among others, were located in Manchester.
1860-1900	Spurred on by economic success, the residential neighborhood in Manchester grows exponentially and becomes a thriving suburban neighborhood--home to many locally prominent businessmen and merchants.
1898	Margaret Deland (1857-1945), novelist and short-story writer, authors Old Chester Tales, a compilation of short stories based on her early years growing up in Manchester. She goes on to author Around Old Chester (1915), New Friends in Old Chester (1924), and Old Chester Days (1935).
1907	City of Allegheny formally annexed by City of Pittsburgh.
1915	Growth of suburban neighborhoods outside of Pittsburgh, coupled with expansion of heavy industry in the city, draws population away from many Northside neighborhoods, including Manchester. This trend would continue through the mid-twentieth century.
1950's - 1970's	Manchester loses 1/3 of its housing stock to blight and decline.
1960s	Construction of Route 65 physically separates the residential and industrial components of the community.
1971	Manchester Citizens Corporation formed as neighborhood advocacy group for the community and assisted in curtailing the blight in the area.
1970's	Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, Manchester Citizens Corporation, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority form a partnership to renovate many areas/homes in Manchester.
1975	Manchester National Historic District officially added to the National Register of Historic Places; period of significance ranges from 1825 - 1899.
1996	Historic Manchester, a neighborhood group interested in the preservation and promotion of the historic housing stock in Manchester, is formed.
2000	Historic Manchester reorganizes under the name of Manchester Historic Society, Inc.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER, ALLEGHENY CITY, AND PITTSBURGH'S NORTHSIDE AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY

Dahinger, Charles W.

1918 Old Allegheny. Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Hopkins, Griffith Morgan

1872 Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, from Actual Surveys and Official Records. G.M. Hopkins and Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hopkins, Henry W.

1901 Plat-Book of the City of Allegheny. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

McGowin, R.E.

1852 Map of the Cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny and of the Boroughs of South Pittsburgh, Birmingham, East Birmingham, Lawrenceville, Duquesne and Manchester. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Parke, John E.

1886 Recollections of Seventy Years and Historical Gleanings of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Rand, Avery & Co., Boston, Massachusetts.

Rimmel, William M.

1981 The Allegheny Story. Guttendorf Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Works Projects Administration in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

1994 Story of Old Allegheny City. Reprint of 1941 edition. Allegheny City Society, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.