Manchester District Library maintains a collection of materials on the history of the Village of Manchester and surrounding townships (Bridgewater, Freedom, Manchester, and Sharon). These include old issues of the Manchester Enterprise on microfilm, published histories of the area, collections of old photographs, original typed or handwritten records, and newspaper clippings.
    Access to most of these materials is restricted to supervised use in the Claire Reck Local History room, which requires making an appointment in advance. If you'd like more information, you're welcome to email history room volunteers at localhistory (at) manchesterlibrary.info.

Manchester Enterprise
     Issues of the Manchester Enterprise for the time period October 1867 through December 1996 are available on microfilm. (Some issues were not available at the time of filming.) Please make an appointment ahead of time to get help from staff on using the microfilm reader, as improper use can lead to damage of the film and/or equipment.

Claire Reck Local History Room
    Unique archival materials, fragile materials, and other files are available to researchers by appointment in the Claire Reck Local History Room. Volunteers are available to researchers at designated times. Currently the library has a volunteer available on Tuesday afternoons. However, calling the library to check that a volunteer is available is advisable. Because we are a small library with a very small staff, immediate access to the collection cannot be guaranteed. To request an appointment call the library at 734-428-8045.
    Useful items in the local history room include: files on local topics, files on Manchester family names, photo albums, Manchester High School yearbooks, manuscript histories of Manchester, and old records from local organizations.
    Our local history room is named in memory of Claire Reck, a long time advocate of the Manchester Township Library and well loved member of the Manchester community. Use of materials in the Claire Reck Local History Room is governed by the Library Board's Historic Room Policy.

Recommended Materials in the General Collection

• Manchester's First Hundred Years
  by Marie Schneider
  Published by the Manchester Area Historical Society, this is the best place to start for those interested in the history of the area. Copies are available for loan.
• History of Washtenaw County
  (Reference use only)
  Includes short histories of each township.
• Old Manchester Village
  prepared by Hazel Proctor
  Booklet contains reproductions of old photographs.
• Manchester Chicken Broils: Celebrating 50 Years
  by the Manchester Area Historical Society
  History of Manchester's famous chicken broil. Copies available for loan.
  

Geneaology Research at the Library
    The library has useful materials for researching families from the Manchester area. For research beyond Manchester, the library has access to the HeritageQuest database and a list of other recommended sites for on-line research (see the sidebar for some of our favorites). We also have how-to books on geneaology research.

To research beyond the Manchester area you may want to explore the resources at: 

• Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County
  in Ann Arbor
• Library of Michigan
  in Lansing
• Burton Historical Collection
  at Detroit Public Library
• Allen County Public Library
  in Fort Wayne, IN.