Manchester, Michigan

Manchester
Village
Main Street, Manchester
Location of Manchester, Michigan
Coordinates: 42°8′58″N 84°2′2″W / 42.14944°N 84.03389°W / 42.14944; -84.03389
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Washtenaw
Area
• Total	2.24 sq mi (5.80 km2)
• Land	2.12 sq mi (5.49 km2)
• Water	0.12 sq mi (0.31 km2)
Elevation	899 ft (274 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	2,091
• Estimate (2012)	2,110
• Density	986.3/sq mi (380.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	48158
Area code(s)	734
FIPS code	26-50660
GNIS feature ID	0631375
Website	vil-manchester.org

Manchester is a village in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,091 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Manchester Township.

In 1824 the United States Congress passed the General Survey Act, intended to create and maintain military roads through what was then the west of the country. One third of the funds allocated went to build a road between the strategic army posts of Detroit and Fort Dearborn, at the little town of Chicago. Known as the Chicago Road, it followed the old Sauk Trail and opened the entire area for settlement.

Also in 1824, the land around today's Manchester was surveyed by John Mack, who noted it as being "a good mill seat." John Gilbert, who had recently completed work on sections of the Erie Canal, agreed with John Mack, and on May 10, 1826 he purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of land along the Raisin River at that location.

Originally from upstate New York, John Gilbert resettled to Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1831. In 1832, he decided to turn his attention to the extensive land tracts he held in the area. He commissioned the construction of a grist mill along the Raisin River upon the land he had purchased in 1826. The original plat of the village of Manchester was prepared by surveyor Hiram Burnham and dated 1833, but was not formally filed until March 25, 1835. The location was chosen to take advantage of water power from the river and named after Manchester, New York.

In 1833, James Soule purchased a large tract of land about 1-mile (1.6 km) downstream from Manchester. He built a small settlement he named Soulesville. Though the two settlements initially competed against each other, on March 16, 1867, both settlements were incorporated into the village of Manchester. The Manchester Village Office and Manchester Public Library are located on the site of the former settlement.