Manchester, Georgia

Template:Use American English Manchester is a city in Meriwether and Talbot counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, although primarily in Meriwether. The population was 3,584 at the 2020 census, down from 4,230 in 2010. It is the most populous community in Meriwether County.

The Meriwether portion of the city is in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, while the Talbot portion is in the Columbus, GA-AL metro area, despite Manchester being located 67 and 39 miles respectively from the two central cities of those metro areas.

History

Manchester was founded in 1907 and was incorporated as a city by the Georgia General Assembly in 1909. The city was named after Manchester, England. Manchester has long been known as a railroad town and was originally established when the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway was extended northward to that point and later became the intersection of two major rail lines to the aforementioned two cities. The railroad was merged into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1946. Even today, the railroad remains an important fixture in Manchester as CSX Transportation maintains a rail yard in the city, newly renovated in 2019.

Geography

Manchester is located in west central Georgia, primarily in southeastern Meriwether County, with a small portion extending south into extreme northern Talbot County. The city is located in the Piedmont physiographic region, with its downtown lying at an elevation of ~ above sea level. The ridge of Pine Mountain runs along Manchester's southern edge, rising to an elevation of nearly above sea level.

Georgia State Route 41 and Georgia State Route 85 intersect in the middle of Manchester. Georgia 41 leads southeast to Woodland and northwest to Warm Springs. Georgia 41 also connects Manchester to its two county seats, north to the Meriwether County seat of Greenville and south also to Talbotton, the Talbot County seat. Georgia 85 heads southwest from Manchester to Waverly Hall and to Columbus and north to Woodbury. Atlanta is north of Manchester, most directly via Georgia 85 and I-75. Georgia 85 intersects Georgia 190 in the southern part of the city, which leads west along the scenic Pine Mountain ridge to U.S. Route 27 just south of the city of Pine Mountain.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Manchester has a total area of , of which , or 0.45%, are water.

Manchester is located in the Flint River basin, part of the larger Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin that covers parts of eastern Alabama, northern and western Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle. Pigeon Creek runs along the northern border of the city, flowing east to the Flint.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Template:Sronly	%±
1910	922		—
1920	2,776		%
1930	3,745		%
1940	3,462		%
1950	4,036		%
1960	4,115		%
1970	4,779		%
1980	4,796		%
1990	4,104		%
2000	3,988		%
2010	4,230		%
2020	3,584		%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850-1870 1880 1890-1910 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1960-19801980-2000

File:Manchester Community Building; Manchester, GA (NRHP).JPG

The Manchester Community Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 28, 2002.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Manchester had a population of 3,584. The median age was 39.8 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 78.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 73.0 males age 18 and over.

There were 1,509 households in Manchester, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 31.5% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 44.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 1,728 housing units, of which 12.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.

Racial composition as of the 2020 census

Race	Number	Percent
White	1,685	47.0%
Black or African American	1,714	47.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native	3	0.1%
Asian	19	0.5%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	2	0.1%
Some other race	32	0.9%
Two or more races	129	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	73	2.0%

Education

Residents in Meriwether County are in the Meriwether County School District.

Residents in Talbot County are in the Talbot County School District.

Notable people

• Bill Mathis, former Clemson and Super Bowl-winning New York Jets football player
• Stuart Woods, novelist. Manchester, dubbed Delano, was the setting for his first best-seller, Chiefs, and most of his subsequent books have a character who comes from the city.