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Manchester Monument

Manchester, S.D., The Storied Town That Blew Away
Dedication Date:  June 23, 2007, Fourth Anniversary of a Massive Tornado

      Just eight miles west of De Smet on Highway 14 is the town site of Manchester, South Dakota.  It was here, in this small community, that Grace Ingalls Dow (“Baby Grace” in her sister, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books) taught school, met her husband, Nate, and lived out her storied life.  While the couple had no children, they had a legion of friends and admirers.  Grace was deeply involved in the life of the community.  Her parents and sisters often came for visits.  Grace and Nate were married on October 16, 1901.  She died forty years later, at a much too young 64, in Manchester, on November 10, 1941.   
      Manchester was also the birthplace of famed pioneer painter Harvey Dunn.  This master painter and illustrator was born on a claim just a few miles south of town on March 8, 1884.  Today, his most celebrated work, The Prairie is My Garden, and other artistic masterpieces are on display at the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings.  In Manchester, he was called “Harv,” and he spent time every summer visiting people around town and in the surrounding community.  The Redstone Creek, which flows through the community, meanders through his paintings.  Even though Dunn achieved international fame as an artist, his connection to his home community remained strong.  Prior to his death in 1952, at age 68, Harv Dunn said, “My search for other horizons has led me around to my first.” 

       Grace Ingalls Dow and Harvey Dunn are just two of the people honored as part of the Manchester Monument, scheduled for dedication on June 23, 2007.  A massive stone in the center of the monument will include the last names of more than 500 families who lived in Manchester Township from the days of the homesteaders until the town and some farms to the north were destroyed by a massive F-4 tornado on June 24, 2003.
 
     That tornado, with winds of more than 200 miles per hour, struck the community at about 7:30 p.m.  National Geographic Society tornado researchers, using a device placed just north of town, measured the steepest drop in air pressure ever recorded on the planet as the tornado went through.  A frightening if not devastating experience for families in the broader community, the storm was subject of a cover story in the April 2004 issue of National Geographic Magazine.  Manchester was the center of worldwide media coverage.  NGS even featured a special exhibit largely devoted to “The Manchester Tornado,” as it has come to be known, at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.  The storm injured some of the six people who were still living in the town.  Nearly all buildings and possessions were broken, torn, shredded, splintered and reduced to small fragments within seconds.  A commemorative plaque tells the story of that fateful day. 

     In August 1961, Manchester hosted the Dakota Territory Centennial.  The event, which took place just across Highway 14, attracted approximately 150,000 people.  Reminiscent of the stampede caused by General George Custer’s announcement that gold had been found in the Black Hills, participants used special shovels to dig for buried prizes with values up to $10,000.  Among those who were in Manchester for this historic celebration were Dakota native Lawrence Welk, who emceed the program, and a young cowboy actor named Clint Eastwood.  Another commemorative plaque at the monument site expands on this exciting story.

     The Manchester Monument pad, covered in flagstone reminiscent of the Redstone Creek, is a semicircle.  The shape is significant.  Manchester has always been a circle of friends and neighbors, but that circle was always open to newcomers who came as pioneers to settle in the community.  It was that spirit that shaped the character of its people.  The pad provides a base for a number of commemorative stones and plaques.  It actually stands on the site of the old Town Hall, also destroyed in the 2003 tornado.  It was here and at the nearby Town Pump, the town’s main water supply for most of its existence, that people gathered and the sense of community flourished.  The Town Pump is an integral part of the monument.

     As you visit this historic site, think about this thriving town that grew along what was then the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, now the DM&E.  Trains came and went, bringing in supplies and carrying away grain and livestock.  The Black and Yellow Trail, now Highway 14, went right through town.  As exciting as Manchester was, even in its heyday, with grocery stores, a post office, a bank, a restaurant, a lumber yard, a cream station, a car repair shop, a couple of livery barns, a school system, and dozens of homes, people still looked forward to going to De Smet on Saturday night.

     As transportation improved, and as access to other markets became easier, Manchester’s population dwindled, and then came the storm.  However, the community continues to thrive.  Evidence of the love that people still feel for their “hometown” is the Manchester Monument.  A visit to this pastoral site, to this town that blew away, helps us understand our history and heritage.  Each of us should appreciate and honor those whose shoulders on which we stand.  Their indomitable spirit, their sacrifice, and their courage can help light our way as we create an even more sustainable future for our nation and our world.

     The Manchester Monument will pique your imagination.  It will contribute to your education and add to your enjoyment as you travel the Laura Ingalls Wilder Trail.

 Gary Marx
Born in Manchester.
A graduate of Manchester Town School and De Smet High School.