Manchester came into being in 1909 when the A. B. A. (Atlanta, Birmingham, Atlantic) Railroad and Callaway Mills of LaGrange got together to locate their facilities here. Shops, repair yards, assembly yards, and other facilities marked a major railroad investment in Manchester.
A planned city by the Manchester Land Development Company, Manchester’s older sections are laid out in squares with streets running east to west and avenues running north to south. The streets of the original mill area are named for persons and trees.

Some 5,000 people live in the greater area of Manchester.