In some ways, the town of 1,484 defies the fraying social fabric of Iowa's rural landscape. It has retained its own independent school and six churches. But the forces at work across Iowa, as farming faces its second economic crisis in a generation, are present here. Of the 35 graduates in Manning's Class of 1999, one stayed in town. Sunday offerings at some Manning churches have fallen.
Pastors blame the farm economy.
The strong work ethic and rich character that have helped preserve Manning are symbols of what the whole state loses when family farms die. Many of the Iowa schools that educated children from small farms closed. So have churches and stores where families worshipped and shopped. Young Iowa farmers have gone the way of horse-drawn plows. So have young farmers' wives at Quilting Day.