The town was founded principally to support the Sweetwater Creek Manufacturing Co, later known as the New Manchester Manufacturing Company. The ridge above Sweetwater Creek was the location for the town, and the path you will walk along by the river is the main road into town. In 1861, the Mill turned to war production, with all goods going to the Confederate Government. In July of 1864 Federal troops under Gen. Stoneman entered New Manchester. They proceeded to the mill, which was in full operation and ordered it shut down immediately. A few days later, the townspeople were told to get what they wanted from the company store, as it was to be burned, and to be ready to move in one hour, or the town would be burned. The store and the mill were both put to the torch, and everone in the town ( mostly women and children ) was sent to Marietta, linking up with the workers of the Roswell mills destroyed by Gen. Kenner Gerrard’s Cavalry. Both groups were sent to Louisville, KY and then, if they took the Oath of Allegiance to the Union, were allowed to cross the Ohio River into Indiana to work in the mills in Cannolton.