Manchester, South Dakota

Some of the following text is my words, but most are the words of Brian Flindt, a fourth generation native of Manchester, South Dakota. I didn't think I could do any better than him.

Manchester was a small unincorporated community in Kingsbury County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. On June 24, 2003, the town was completely annihilated by a large F4-rated tornado, and has since become a ghost town.

Image Copyright
Brian Flindt

In the latter part of the 19th century, Manchester was just another small prairie town, made up of farmers and merchants.The homes and buildings left in town were a cherished remnant of what the town once had been. Manchester, like so many prairie towns, began in the early 1880's and was somewhat self-contained out of necessity. Manchester was the center of life for many neighboring farms as well as the people who lived in the town. A rich social life and healthy business community existed at Manchester, too. There were general stores, groceries, a bank, a pool hall, a livery stable, a lumber yard, a blacksmith shop/garage, two gas stations, two grain elevators, restaurants, an egg-buying station, a hotel and a town hall; not to mention two churches and a school. As transportation and the roads improved by the 1920's, Manchester began to diminish and neighboring towns increasingly drew business and the town’s population away.

The state’s territorial centennial was celebrated with a festival located near Manchester’s southwest border and over 150,000 people came to celebrate, which set the record as the state’s largest crowd at the time. Clint Eastwood, then a young actor, was there signing autographs and promoting his western television series, “Rawhide”.

Farmhouse in Manchester before tornado

Farmhouse Afterwards
Both Images Copyright
Brian Flindt

Another record event would not take place at Manchester until June 24, 2003, when the tornado engulfed the remaining citizens and their property. the national record for 67 tornadoes in one state in 24 hours was tied. Incidentally, the path the tornado took went right over the field where this festival was held.

Image borrowed from CNWLives Flickr Photostream

An overpowered westbound passes the old Peavey elevators at Manchester, SD on 11-22-79.

Though the town of Manchester was leveled, perhaps a new chapter in the town’s history is beginning, this one based on tornadic research. Now many stormchasers will hold vivid memories of Manchester and the immediate area and they, along with historically-rooted people, will be connected to a “virtual” Manchester.

Manchester Today

Image copyright Cheryl Whitlock



Manchester Today
Image copyright Cheryl Whitlock



Manchester Today
Image copyright Cheryl Whitlock



Manchester Today
Image copyright Cheryl Whitlock




MORE ON THE TORNADO

Bulletin from NWS

ABUS34 KFSD 260125
PNSFSD

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
726 PM CDT WED JUN 25 2003

....MANCHESTER TORNADO RATED F4....

THE LARGE TORNADO THAT DESTROYED THE COMMUNITY OF MANCHESTER IN
KINGSBURY COUNTY SOUTH DAKOTA IS OFFICIALLY CLASSIFIED AS AN F4
TORNADO BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

THIS TORNADO...FIRST TOUCHING DOWN IN NORTHEAST SANBORN
COUNTY...MOVED THROUGH MANCHESTER AT APPROXIMATELY 745 PM TUESDAY EVENING JUNE 24 2003. AS THE TORNADO MOVED THROUGH MANCHESTER IT WAS ABOUT A 1/2 MILE WIDE. THE F4 DAMAGE EXTENDED 1 1/2 MILES SOUTH OF MANCHESTER...THROUGH THE SMALL COMMUNITY... TO 2 1/4 MILES NORTH OF MANCHESTER. THE TOTAL TORNADO PATH WILL BE DETERMINED BY AN AERIAL SURVEY PLANNED FOR THURSDAY...BUT IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND 25 MILES LONG. F4 TORNADO WINDS RANGE FROM 207 MPH TO 260 MPH ON THE FUJITA SCALE

Record Pressure Drop Recorded with Manchester Tornado





Arial view of tornado path

Tornado Images Copyright Tim Samaras

The Tale of Two Highway 14s

This is the tale of two highway 14s. One a state road, the other a US highway.

Alabama Highway 14

The first highway 14 is technically the most important to me and closest to my home. It is Alabama Highway 14 and runs east-west, beginning in Opelika, ending at the Mississippi state line. The part I am familiar with is the section from Auburn to Loachapoka. It runs in front of the W4HOD clubhouse, where I have had many great times with great friends. I have pedaled the keys in a lot of RTTY contests at the clubhouse with KA4PKB and KF4OPX, eaten some fine suppers and had some great fellowship. Can't complain about that!

One of my favorite stories of Alabama Highway 14 is the source of the Wreck Tech Pajama Parade.

The Wreck Tech Pajama Parade originated in 1896, when a group of mischievous Auburn cadets, determined to show up the more well-known engineers from Georgia Tech, snuck out of their dorms the night before the football game between Auburn and Tech and greased the railroad tracks. According to the story, the train carrying the Georgia Tech team slid through town and didn't stop until it was halfway to the neighboring town of Loachapoka, Alabama, The Georgia Tech team was forced to walk the five miles back to Auburn and, not surprisingly, were rather weary at the end of their journey. This likely contributed to their 45–0 loss. While the railroad long ago ceased to be the way teams traveled to Auburn and students never greased the tracks again, the tradition continues in the form of a parade through downtown Auburn. Students parade through the streets in their pajamas and organizations build floats. This tradition has recently been renewed with Georgia Tech returning to Auburn's schedule after nearly two decades of absence.

Tri Delts March in the Wreck Tech Parade


US Highway 14

The second Highway 14 is a US highway and it runs east-west from Chicago, IL to Yellowstone National Park. The part I am familiar with is the section that runs through Minnesota and South Dakota, also known as the "Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway". For my amateur radio friends, here is a photo of the real Charles Ingalls family. Charles sure didn't look like Little Joe Cartwright did he?

Charles Ingalls Family (circa 1893)

Laura Ingalls is standing directly behind Charles with her hand resting on his shoulder. Laura's blind sister Mary is sitting to the far right. Sister Carrie is shown on the left side of Laura and sister Grace is shown on the right side. Laura's mother Caroline Ingalls is sitting on the left.

This photo was supposedly taken around 1893 in De Smet, South Dakota, right before Laura and her husband Almanzo Wilder left De Smet for Mansfield, Missouri. In Mansfield, they would build up a beautiful productive farm named Rocky Ridge Farm and a state of the art farm home that still stands today.

On Rocky Ridge Farm, the Wilders grew apples and shipped them all across the region. Laura was known as a keen poultry expert and could get eggs in winter when no one else could. She was proud that she earned $1 per day from each of her chickens, not a bad return in the early 1900s. The Wilders also grew strawberries and shipped them across Missouri.

Almanzo died in 1949 at age 92. Laura died in 1957 at age 90.

Rocky Ridge Farm House/Museum
Mansfield, Missouri

Every place Laura lived as a child and adult has some sort of memorial society organized. Some are better than others, some have replica cabins built, some have actual homes still preserved. The state of Iowa has the distinction of having the only childhood home of Laura that is still in the original location as it was when Laura lived there. The home was the Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa located in Winneshiek County. It has been restored, had an addition removed that was added later, and Laura would certainly recognize it if she came back to visit today.

The Masters Hotel
Burr Oak, Iowa

In 1932, at age 65 Laura began writing down her childhood memories of growing up as the child of a pioneer father with wanderlust. These memories became the "Little House" books, not to be confused with Michael Landon's hatchet job TV show.

Charles Ingalls was always looking for the perfect piece of land to farm, always looking to the west, but he never really found what he was looking for. The closest he came was a quarter section in De Smet, Kingsbury County, South Dakota (part of Dakota Territory in 1880). Charles filed the necessary papers, and followed the required steps for proving up on the claim and received his patent around 1886. He sold the claim not long after and moved to town and lived the remainder of his years there. He died at home in 1902 at the age of 66. Caroline Ingalls died at home in 1924 at age 84.

Laura at age 70 (circa 1937)
She was at the height of her writing career with the "Little House" books

Please pardon me if this post is not directly related to amateur radio. The one tie-in to ham radio is the fact that on one of my journeys north to visit Laura's homesites, I did work the county hunter net all the way north to South Dakota, and then back east through Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. This fact brings me to the different reactions of friends from both my obsessions.

From amateur radio operators: Laura Ingalls Wilder? Who the heck is she? You traveled all the way to Iowa to see what?

From LIW fans: What are all those funny antennas on your car? You a spy?

For a more detailed look at my Laura obession, including photographs, links to other fans sites, and links to all the home sites, visit my web site at http://dakotagirl.com

The last photo shown here does not have anything to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I really enjoyed taking it. I was exhausted, having been on the road for almost 12 days. I had covered Missouri, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. (I did not see Wisconsin this trip). I had just turned off State Road 52 in Northeastern Iowa, headed for Dubuque, Davenport and points south. All of a sudden , I saw this beautiful sunflower field. I had to stop to photograph it. It was refreshing to see something so cheerful, especially being as tired as I was.




Posted by AA4YL