The Tenderloin:
“What this country needs is a really good five-cent tenderloin.”
I don’t think you can find a five-cent tenderloin in Indiana, and even if you did I wouldn’t want to eat it. I will settle for a five-dollar tenderloin, in which you can almost find in North Manchester at the Inn Pub & Grill ($5.50). You may just miss this place if you don’t know what you were looking for as the building sits quietly outside of the commercial district and only has a sign outside that says “The Inn.” Now at this inn I’m pretty sure you can’t get a room for the night, but you surely can get one of the best Fried Breaded Tenderloins in the whole state of Indiana. It came recommended, but at the low $5.50 price I was a little skeptical (As I had already been burned from another place in town that had a $5 tenderloin). Turns out - there was no need to worry as the freshly breaded and fried loin came out thick and tender. The flakiness and crispiness of every bite was a delight. I dipped the sandwich in some hot wing sauce and you might as well rename “The Inn” the "Ritz-Carleton" as you have the top of the line first class tenderloin here. The locals all know it too as I kept seeing the server bring out BPT’s order after order. The only downside is that the place is 21+ only. But, if you have an all adult party with you, I heavily recommend a detour to North Manchester to check out The Inn.
The Town:
I don’t think many people around here realize how close we were to having a president born in Northern Indiana. Thomas Marshall was the Vice president for Woodrow Wilson near the beginning of the 20th century. After the first World War, Wilson suffered a stroke that took him out normal activity for almost the last year and a half of his second term. The story goes that his wife and his doctor were able to hide the condition and make the final presidential decisions for him. The other most likely case is that everyone knew, but with an election next year the one side figured they would benefit from a weakened candidate to run against, and the party of the president wouldn’t be quick to give up power and go against a man, if he recovered, who already won 2 elections and a World War. Thomas Marshall really was the only man who could have stood up and take the reins of what was now the most powerful country in the world, but he was a strict constitutionalist. The 25th Amendment, which would have allowed him to take the presidency if the current president could not do his job, was not created yet. The constitution itself did not address this issue; it didn’t even really strictly say that the VP would become the actual President even if the current President died. (That was done by precedent when John Tyler took over for another Indiana resident, William Henry Harrison, when a month after taking the oath became the first President to die in office.) So basically Thomas Marshall, who probably could have marched right into the oval office and took his seat, said something like, “I’m not touching that with a 10 foot pole.”
Thomas Marshall was born in North Manchester in 1854. The house still stands in the city, although not in the same spot it stood 167 years ago. Over the years it was moved from the original location on Main Street around town three different times. In 1994 the house moved to its current location next to the library in Market Street and restored by the historical society volunteers including the man who was gracious enough to give us a tour on this Saturday, Prof. Steve Batzka. It is a small old house with four rooms in the ground floor with a beautiful staircase to two rooms in the cape. Although nothing is original to the Marshall family (you have to go to Columbia City to see that) the place is laid out as close as possible to what a home would look like to an 1850’s family. Since Thomas’s father was a doctor, the back room is staged as a doctor’s office with instruments and pharmaceutical items from the time period. The wood floors have been refinished and an old carpet lies in the living area. The walls have also been restored to the construction of the era. The upstairs contains the two bedrooms. I rather enjoy walking through old houses that have been restored to certain time periods. It is very interesting to see exactly the difference between how we used to live compared to now and all the times in-between, especially the kitchen and bathrooms as they seem to have changed the most over the years. It even kept the interest of my pre-teen boys as they explored the various rooms and trinkets throughout the building. The house is open for tours every first Saturday of the month between 1 and 4, and if you have a free weekend, I would highly recommend stopping in for a bit to see what life was like back in the day.
The town contains some of your normal small independently owned shops in and around the downtown area. Mostly Books is a small two room bookstore nestled in a brick 100 year old building on Main St. Inside you will find books, mostly… There is a great selection of history books and my boys were able to purchase a couple of old comics from a small selection. About a mile west, behind a flower shop, there is a small modular ice cream shop named Chillz. They have your usual selection of ice cream, but it comes with whipped cream and a special topping. My coffee ice cream was covered in chocolate chips. The boys both got root beer floats. They were ecstatic as they were given the can with the float and could add as much extra root beer as they wish. It has a couple nice tables and a fire pit you could sit around on the cooler days.
There are a couple of landmarks worth stopping by and taking a look at while in town. The Peabody Tower, sometimes referred to the Singing Tower because of the music from the chimes at noon and 6 , was built by the Peabody family who are currently interred inside. It was modeled after the Bok Tower in Florida and built as a memory for the parents of Thomas Peabody, whose family did a lot of philanthropy work for the city. The public cannot enter and climb the tower, but it is a nice object to see and take a short walk to enjoy the area. The North Manchester Covered Bridge is also a site to see. Built 150 years ago, this bridge still carries vehicular traffic. There is an area to walk across too, you can poke your head out the open windows and get a view of the Eel River.
Out by the high-school there is a 9-hole Frisbee Golf Course. It is laid out really well and is a perfect course for beginners and intermediate players. More than half the holes are wide open for those to practice and perfect their drives. There are a few holes that jog into the woods too and add a bit of a challenge. The course also contains a giant map at the start of hole 1 that you can take a picture of that will help guide you through the course. If you have never thrown a disk around it is a great place to buy one and try your hand at it.
North Manchester has a little bit of everything for a small city. There is plenty of history, small shops, bridges, towers, and tenderloins. For not being a county seat, it is impressive sitting in the middle of Indiana and growing without the help of government offices to draw people in. You really have to try the tenderloin at the Inn too. I'd say it is in the top three of the one's I have tried. Whether a stop or a destination, North Manchester has plenty to offer to anyone.
The bathroom at the Marshall House
by Michael Tomko
find The Indiana Tenderloin Chronicles on Facebook at
Komentáře