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Like Beech Grove, Manchester owes its
existence to the old Ft. Nasborough-Georgia stage road
built between 1805 and 1807. A rope factory and cotton
gin were on the site by the middle of the 1820s. In
1836, when Coffee County was created, investors in the
area sought to make good by making their small town the
government seat. A fight ensued with the promoters of
Hillsboro, on the old post/stage line connecting
Huntsville, Alabama with Knoxville, Tennessee.
Manchester won, and became the site of schools, churches
and businesses. A county academy was established in
1847, along with Oak Hill Seminary in 1849. Indeed,
even bigger things were predicted. Tradition has it
that the town was named for Manchester, England, because
it was assumed that the area’s waterpower would turn it
into a great industrial center. However, like
Shelbyville, the new railroad threatened to bypass and
isolate the Coffee County seat. The town was saved
by building a railroad spur running from the newly created
Tullahoma out to McMinnville.
During the Tullahoma Campaign, Manchester
was the pivot point of Union general Rosecrans’ flanking
maneuver. Once in Manchester, he would not only be
behind the Confederate army, but in a position to move
against Tullahoma —the main Southern
base— or proceed down the Manchester Pike to the area of
the Elk River and the Cumberland Plateau. Manchester
was the key to the entire Union campaign.
Historic and Historical Civil War Resources:
Old Stone Fort
– A state-owned archaeological park, Old Stone Fort was
a ceremonial ground and village built by the Woodlands
Indians 2000 years ago. Entrance mounds and a chert
wall remain. The site is located on a peninsula at the fork of the
Duck and Little Duck Rivers. Along the Duck, a
Confederate powder mill was believed to have once
stood. Remains of the mill, mentioned by locals, have
not been found.
Arrowheads to Aerospace Museum
– The privately-owned museum has on display Native
American, World War II, farm and Civil War artifacts.
Old City Cemetery
– This site contains the graves of 30 Confederate
soldiers who died during and after the war.
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