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Manchester, Kentucky

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Manchester census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40962. It stands on Little Goose Creek. The Survey maps it on the Manchester quadrangle. 1,512 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 869 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Manchester within Clay County

On record in Manchester

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

3 figures

Manchester fell from 1,738 to 1,512 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20001,738
20101,255-483 (-28%)
20201,512+257 (+20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

2 photographs, 2020

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Insidious kudzu vines have overwhelmed this stretch of mountain woodlands near Manchester in southeastern Kentucky
Insidious kudzu vines have overwhelmed this stretch of mountain woodlands near Manchester in southeastern Kentucky
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
As the sign says, this is a (narrow wooden) one-lane bridge across a mountain creek in woods near Manchester, Kentucky
As the sign says, this is a (narrow wooden) one-lane bridge across a mountain creek in woods near Manchester, Kentucky
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

485 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 485 fires within 5 miles of Manchester between 1995 and 2020, burning about 14,978 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 139 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning206
Arson/incendiarism139
Missing data/not specified/undetermined106
Recreation and ceremony31
Smoking1
Natural1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined18 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
29 September 2007Debris and open burning12 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
27 September 2019Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryHOOKER BRANCH
27 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestRUG RAT
24 September 2008Recreation and ceremony4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
21 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
15 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
14 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Manchester: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Highway 11 RoadcutClayProspect

Every working recorded in Clay County

Storms near this place

60 of 77 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Manchester in 77 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 49 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 10 flash flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2004Flash FloodManchester1 hurt, $5,000Several roads were flooded, including Highway 638. One woman was injured when leaving a stalled car on Greenbriar Road and lost footing in the flood water. She was treated and released from a hospital with minor injuries.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$100,000Highway 11 became impassable when a barn and a house were blown into the roadway.
March 1997Thunderstorm WindManchester$25,000no account filed
April 2007Thunderstorm WindManchester$20,000Tree down on Highway 80. Other trees were also down on power lines.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindManchester$20,000A restaurant sign blew over. Trees and power lines were down all over Manchester and over other parts of the county.
March 2002Flash FloodManchester$10,000Heavy rains that fell on March 17 and 18 caused several roads to flood.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester$5,000Funeral home has extensive siding damage. Large pine tree blown down. Guide wires snapped on a utility pole.
June 2003Flash FloodManchester$5,000Kentucky Highway 11 was blocked by high water. Beech Creek Road was flooded. Six inches of water were flowing over the city streets of Manchester. Four feet of water covered the city park. Also, there was flooding in City Hall.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindManchester$5,000A downburst caused significant roof damage to one home. One 55 gallon barrel full of dirt was blown into the side of the home.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindManchester$4,000Trees were blown down on Crawfish Road in the Horse Creek area.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindManchester$4,000Four trees blown down in town.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester$4,000Severe roof damage to four or five homes on Curry Branch Road near Pigeonroost.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$3,000A tree was blocking the road on Route 577 near the Clay Jackson County line. A tree was blocking the road near the intersection U.S. 421 and Bray Creek Road. A tree was blown down on Highway 1350 near the C and J grocery store north of Sextons Creek.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindManchester$3,000Several large tree limbs down on Jacks Creek Road near Eriline.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester$3,000Garage blown down. Trees also down. Damage occurred in Paces Creek area.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$2,000A couple of trees were blown down near the High School by wind gusts estimated at 61 mph.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester$2,000Trees and power lines down.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester$2,000Trees and power lines were blown down.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,600Two trees down.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000One tree was blown down along Route 687.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000A tree was blown down on KY Highway 638.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000A tree was blown down on Highway 11.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000One tree was blown down at the intersection of Highway 11 and Bankville Road.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000A tree was blown down near the intersection of Highway 80 and Add Hollow Road west of Manchester.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000Strong winds blew down trees across highway 3474.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindManchester$1,000no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindManchester$700Tree down on Lost Fork Rd and in the Big Tree community.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindManchester-Trees were reported downed countywide across Clay County.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindManchester-Dispatch relayed reports of downed trees in Manchester and Peabody.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindManchester-Trees were blown down on Crawfish Rd.
May 2011HailManchester-Ping pong ball size hail fell for about 5 minutes in Manchester.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindManchester-Large fast food signs were blown away by thunderstorm wind gusts along the Hal Rogers Parkway in Manchester.
June 2007HailManchester-Nickel size hail fell for over minutes in downtown Manchester.
June 2007HailManchester-Penny size hail at Eriline on Jacks Creek Road.
April 2006HailManchester-Hail nearly covered the ground.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-A few large limbs down.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-A few large limbs down.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-Tree down on Highway 11 south of Manchester. Numerous large limbs down in the southern portion of the county.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-Two trees down across Darbs Branch Road and Highway 2467 near Knox County line.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-Tree down on Highway 421.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindManchester-Tree down in Goose Rock on Highway 1524. Tree down across Highway 11, seven miles south of Manchester.
April 2005Thunderstorm WindManchester-Trees down on Highway 1524 near Goose Rock.
May 2005Flash FloodManchester-Six to eight inches of water flowing over Highway 421 in Manchester.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindManchester-Several large limbs blown down near Highway 11.
August 2003Flash FloodManchester-Water flooded city streets as a festival was underway.
June 2003Flash FloodManchester-There were 8 to 10 inches of water flowing over United States Highway 421 and 12 to 15 inches of water flowing over Little Goose Road.
June 2003Flash FloodManchester-Six inches of water were flowing across Kentucky Highway 1999.
July 2003Flash FloodManchester-There were six to twelve inches of running water over several roads across the town of Manchester.
July 2003HailManchester-One inch diameter hail was reported by the Clay County Ambulance Service.
May 2002Flash FloodManchester-Heavy rains caused over one foot of water to flow across a road five miles north of Manchester. In addition, Highway 1350 was closed one mile southwest of Chestnutburg due to water flowing over the road.
November 2002Thunderstorm WindManchester-Numerous trees were down along United States Highway 421 between Burning Springs and Fall Rock.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-Numerous 2 inch diameter limbs down.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-One tree was down and blocking Kentucky highway 687 near Cattle Gap.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-One tree was down and blocked one lane of Richmond Road.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-One tree was down blocking Kentucky Highway 687.
June 2001Tornado (F0)Manchester-The tornado was reported moving through a forested area southwest of Manchester. Roofing material and other debris generated while the tornado moved through Laurel county was also reported in the air. Items from a damaged store in London was found some 20 miles away in Manchester.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-Numerous trees blown down.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindManchester-Numerous trees were blown down
April 2000Thunderstorm WindManchester-Trees down.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindManchester-One tree down.

Every storm recorded in Clay County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Flatwoods (historical)0.3 miles13
Littleton0.7 miles13
Garrard2.2 miles13
Hima2.4 miles13
Sibert2.5 miles13
Bluehole3.7 miles13
Bernice3.7 miles13
Pigeonroost4.0 miles13

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on ManchesterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2431832The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 513768. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.