Images Courtesy: Siouxland Heritage Museums, Sioux Falls
Lawrence Decator Manchester was born September 28, 1863 in Iowa. In 1870, he was living with his parents in Dayton, Webster County, Iowa.[1] In 1880, he was working on the farm living with his parents in Spencer, Rolls County, Missouri.[2] In 1888, he was a baker with for A. H. Randahl in Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory.[3] Later the same year, 1888, he opened the Vienna Bakery in Luverne, Minnesota. He married Harriet S. Maxlow September 14, 1892 in Lemars, Iowa. In 1900, he was a restaurant keeper in Luverne, Rock County, Minnesota.[4] Andrew Kuehn and the Jewett brothers talked L. D. Manchester to move from Luverne to Sioux Falls in 1902 and open a baking company.[5] His wife Harriet died in 1914 and he married Nettis Current on 16 October, 1915 in Sioux Falls. He continued to live in Sioux Falls in 1920 and 1930.[6] He was a Master Mason and a member of Minnehaha Lodge in Sioux Falls.[7] He was a founding member of the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary Club in September, 1915. He died May 8, 1930 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls.
The Manchester Biscuit Company started out in a two-story stone building 25 x 40 feet on 6th Street.[8]
The business grew steadily. In 1909, a three story, 150 x 225, stone building was built alongside the original structure. The new building added three large ovens.[9] In 1915, the business continued to grow and local architect Joseph Schwartz designed a seven story steel and concrete building faced in Brown Brick.[10]
In 1946, the final addition was added to the west of the 1915 building. The new addition 120 x 100 feet was built of concrete and faced in buff colored brick. The new building cost $200,000.
The business continued to expand outside of Sioux Falls and had branches in Aberdeen and Rapids City in South Dakota, Sioux City and Des Moines in Iowa, Fargo, North Dakota and in St. Paul and Rochester in Minnesota. In 1949 the company employed 350 people. The welfare of their employees was always a top priority. The company was closed in 1960.
Raven Industries has occupied the building, with additions, since 1961.
Image Courtesy: Raven Industries
[1] 1870 United States Census, Dayton, Webster County, Iowa.
[2] 1880 United States Census, Spencer, Rolls County, Missouri.
[3] Sioux Falls City Directory, Sioux Falls, Dakota Territory, 1888, p. 105.
[4] 1900 United States Census, Luverne, Rock County, Iowa.
[5] Smith, Charles A., History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1949, p. 229. Olson, Gary D., and Olson, Erik, Sioux Falls, South Dakota A Pictorial History, p. 83.
[6] 1920 United States Census, Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota. 1930 United States Census, Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota.
[7] Brown, Thomas, History of Minnehaha Lodge No.5, A. F. & A. M., Brown & Seanger Printers, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. P. 105.
[8] Smith, Charles A., History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1949, p. 229.
[9] Smith, Charles A., History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1949, p. 229.
[10] National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. Sioux Falls Warehouse District, P. 4
Listen to an SDPB Radio "In The Moment" interview with Bill Hoskins, Director, Siouxland Heritage Museums, Sioux Falls.