Manchester Mill Logo
History of the Manchester Mill:

Huron Mills built by John Gilbert
Huron Mills (Pictures of the Manchester Mill before the
1853 fire are unknown, but John Gilbert also built Huron Mills in
Ypsilanti, as chronicled by Ray Berg in the February 2008 "M"
Magazine. Most likely, the same building plan was followed).

Southern Washtenaw Mills in 1886
Southern Washtenaw Mills-1886

Mill from River Side-1890's
The River Side-1890's

Mill in 1910's
Manchester Roller Mills in the early 1910’s

Mill in 1959
E. G. Mann & Sons Mill in 1959
1826    Land grant from U.S. Government to John Gilbert.
1832    Emanuel Case and Harry Gilbert contract to build mill. W.S. and Elijah Carr cut and hew the lumber. Richard Fogy is the first millwright.
1833    First bridge, made of planks, is built across the river.
1835    Stephen Fargo buys Mill. Operates as Manchester Mill Company.
1836    Stephen Fargo sells to James Fargo, Shepherd Knapp & Sellick Boughton.
1837    Boughton sells his share back to Fargo. The Original Manchester Village Plat is then acknowledged by Stephen Fargo, James & Eliza Fargo,and Shepherd & Catherine Knapp.
1838    Fargo sells share to Charles Noble & Austin Wing.
1839    Wing & Noble sell their share back to Stephen Fargo.
1840    Stephen Fargo sells shares to Benjamin Ford, Cyress Smith & Luther Field by Land Contract. A 5 year lease of water power is made to Samuel Doty for manufacturing wool on east side river next to the sawmill. Now called the Manchester Flouring Mill.
1841    Fargo sells a share back to Noble & Wing, which is then sold to Philip Brotherson and Arthur Root.
1847    Brotherson sells his share to Arthur Root.
1848    US Bankruptcy Court in Detroit orders shares of Mill held by Farmers and Merchant’s Bank, Brotherson, Wing, Noble and McClelland sold to Arthur Root.
1852    Root dies; estate sells his share to William McClelland. Charles Noble, as attorney for Shepherd Knapp, sells that share to William McClelland as well.
1853    McClelland sells to Vreeland, with 1/3 share going through Marshall Chapin. On May 1, the mill burns down with $20,000 damage to the mill plus $30,000 damage to other buildings.
1854    Vreeland sells to George Sedgwick. (Sedgwick is apparently a local financier because he holds a series of mortgages on the mill through 1878).
1854    John Kief rebuilds the mill, now operating as the Farmer’s Grist Mill. (John’s sister Eliza had been married to Stephen Fargo’s nephew, James, who passed away in 1840).
1855    Sedgwick sells to Jabez Fountain.
1857    Jabez Fountain sells to Cyrus Fountain.
1858    Cyrus & Juliet Fountain sell to Harriet Fountain.
1864    George & Martha Sedgwick sell to James Chamberlin & Edwin Fairchild, Jr. Mortgages held by Sedgwick include James Fountain, William McClelland, Shepherd Knapp, and James Mitchell.
1866    Jabez Fountain sells to James Fountain, including a mortgage foreclosure against Fernando Beaman.
1865    James & Sarah Chamberlain sell to Earstus Vilas.
1867    Edward & Lucy Fairchild Jr. and Erastus & Lucy Vilas sell their shares back to Sedgwick, as does James, Jabez & Harriet Fountain.
1869    Sedgwick sells to James Reynolds.
1870    Sedgwick sells 1/2 interest to George Hewett with mortgage.
1873    Sedgwick sells 1/2 interest to Enoch Cook and William Bartleys with mortgage.
1875    Dam washes out in flood and is rebuilt.
1877    George Sedgwick repossesses mortgages to James Reynolds, William Hewett, George Hewett, William Burtless, Charles Miller & Benjamin Reynolds. Then Sedgwick sells to Francis Reynolds.
1878    Reynolds sells to Amanda Priest.
1879    Priest sells to Garrison Underhill and Mary Rommel.
1886    Noah Holt buys the Mill. Now named Southern Washtenaw Mills.
1896    Sale to People’s Bank in lieu of foreclosure.
1901    People’s Bank sells to Lewis Lonier and William Hoffer
1908    Dam washes out on March 10. A temporary dam is built and it washes out in May.
1912    Rock-filled timber crib dam with concrete weir constructed. (present structure)
1919    Lewis Lonier dies and Helen sells interest to William Hoffer.
1924    Mill burns down shattering windows in bank building across Adrian Street.
1926    Mill rebuilt. (present main building structure)
1930    Sale to William and Oswald Blaess.
1931    Standard Oil leases space for service station; operated by Lawrence Burkhardt.
1939    Young David Wolf, whose father owns a Main Street shoe shop, drowns in the Mill Dam flume.
1940    Sale to Ernest G., Earl, and Willard Mann.
1954    Grain elevator added to main structure of Mill.
1976    Willard & Dorothy Mann buy out E.G. Mann & Sons. Ronald Mann operates the Mill.
1977    Feed store added to rear of main structure.
1979    Mill Listed in the Michigan State Register of Historic Sites.
1981    Sale to Don Limpert. Milling operations stop.
1985    Renovated as store, office & apartment complex.
2001    Mill purchased by Karl and Pat Racenis.
2007    Major restoration of siding, windows & roofing on grain elevator section.
2009    Steel siding installed on the river side of the Mill restores historically correct appearance from the 1950's.

Information resources:
    * Link to Michigan Historic Sites in Washtenaw County
    * Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan.
    * Donald Limpert documents and photographs.
    * Manchester Area Historical Society.
    * Manchester District Library Historical Room.
    * Manchester’s First Hundred Years.
    * Ronald Mann documents and photographs.
    * Washtenaw County Register of Deeds.
    * Zichi & Brauer P.C.Title Opinion dated May 25, 2001.

Return to Home Page