The following article appeared in the Rock County Herald on Oct. 8, 1929:Birthplace of Manchester cracker factory torn down State Fire Marshall considered stone building erected thirty years ago a menace to public welfare"The birthplace of one of the few commercial dreams of the earlier days of Luverne, that actually equaled and exceeded this fondest expectations of the dreamer, was eliminated as a landmark the past week when the old stone building at the rear of Fitzer Bros. clothing store, was razed. Contractor P.N. Gillham supervised its erection, and also its wrecking. Thirty years had elapsed between the two processes. It was in the late ‘90s that L.D. Manchester, after working early and late, week days and Sundays, in maintaining the Vienna restaurant and bakery — a very popular place in its days — for several years without making a great deal of financial headway, conceived the dream that has its fruition today in the Manchester Biscuit Co. plants at Sioux Falls and Fargo, N.D.; properties with a valuation in excess of a million dollars. He wanted to start a cracker factory; L.D’s friends, almost without exception, insisted that it was a wild venture that could not end other than in his ruin, for he must compete with the "cracker trust," and money was difficult to obtain. Bankers refused to enthuse, but the founder of the Manchester Biscuit Co. continued to dream his dreams and work, to the extent that he would go out on the road for a few days soliciting orders for his products, and would return and labor night and day to produce goods with which to fill these orders.It was in the summer of 1899 that L.D., disregarding the counsel of his close friends, cast discretion to the wind and entered a contract for the erection of the stone building that was to provide a home for his cracker factory. While the project represented only a few thousand dollars, it was a major effort for the restaurant man, considering the capital he had available. In due course of time the building was finished and equipped with the marvelous, but now crude and cumbersome, steel oven, and the opening of the new factory was announced in the following manner in the Herald of Nov. 24, 1899: ‘The Vienna Bakery and Cracker factory, an important new industry to which Luverne is indebted to the enterprise of L.D. Manchester, began operations last Monday and is now turning out crackers of all varieties at the rate of about 12 barrels per day.‘The factory building, which had been erected by Mr. Manchester during the present season, especially for the purpose indicated, is a substantial stone structure 25x40 feet; two stories in height, with a basement. It is located in the rear of the Vienna bakery, 90 feet from the street frontage, with the purpose in view of connecting it with a new building extending to the street, which Mr. Manchester proposes to erect in the near future.‘The basement is occupied by the boiler and engine which furnish power for the factory, the hard coal furnace by which the oven is heated, bins for coal, etc. The boiler also supplies steam for heating the factory, the store building and restaurant, and Mr. Manchester’s residence. From the basement an underground passage leads to the packing rooms in the rear of the store.‘The first floor is devoted exclusively to the purposes of the bakery and cracker factory. The oven, which is located at the north end of the building, is one of the largest and best in the state outside of the city factories. It is what is known as a reel oven and has a capacity of 400 loaves of bread, or 12 1/2 barrels of flour in 10 hours. It may be operated by hand or steam but is generally operated by steam. ‘In connection with the oven is a steam-proof box with room for 418 loaves of bread. The cracker plant consist of a dough mixer with a capacity of 600 pounds of flour; a cake mixer and a frosting beater with a capacity of 60 pounds; a cracker machine with a capacity of 45 barrels per day; a cookie machine with a capacity of 2,000 pounds; a sizing machine, pan racks, etc. All of the machinery is operated by steam power, and when everything is in operation the factory presents a busy and interesting scene. ‘The second floor is used for the purposes of a store room and contains at present a large stock of canned goods, a carload of cracker flour and a carload of bread flour. The gas machine by which the factory and store are lighted, is also located on this floor. A first-class elevator provides means of communication between the basement and the second floor and the building is provided with a sewer with which the sinks in the factory are connected. ‘A large room in the rear of the store building, which, as above stated, is connected with the factory by an underground passage, is used for the purposes of a packing room, where the crackers are put up in neatly labeled boxes and turned out ready for shipment. ‘The new factory began operations with a force of eight employees, but it is probable that the force will be largely increased in the near future. The foreman of the establishment is L.E. Schaver, who formerly had charge of the mixing department in Griggs, Cooper & Co.’s factory in St. Paul. He is an expert cracker man and under his management it is sage to predict that the products of the Luverne Factory will be fully equal in every respect to the best on the market. ‘The new enterprise is a credit to Luverne and cannot fail to be of great value to our business interests. The highest praise is due to Mr. Manchester for the enterprise and public spirit he has shown, and he should be rewarded, as he doubtless will be, by the liberal patronage of our merchants and the earnest support of all our people.’If things did not run smoothly at first, the demand for the products of the factory steadily increased, and by working early and late Mr. Manchester saw to it that orders were promptly filled. As the months went by, the Luverne Factory began to attract attention from the big city business interests, and it was not long until Sioux Falls concerns sought to induce Mr. Manchester to transfer his base of operations to that city, where railway transportation accommodations then offered a big inducement. Friends of Mr. Manchester warned him that he would be making the biggest mistake of all to locate at Sioux Falls, but again he followed his own judgment. Since the Coffey block was erected on the site of the Vienna restaurant and bakery in 1919, the old stone building at the rear had not been occupied for any purpose and its deterioration had therefore been quite rapid. Recently the state fire marshal requested that it be torn down, and as Mr. Gillham needed rock with which to ballast the grade on the Kenneth-Magnolia state aid road at the bridge two miles north of Magnolia, he found the contract for wrecking the building a timely one."Remember to come to the Rock County Historical Society annual banquet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Blue Mound Banquet Center in Luverne. Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
