The Manchester Schoolhouse was built when the area was covered with first-growth redwood and doghole schooners tied off the coast to be loaded with lumber for the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. In time the forests were depleted and the mills and population decreased.

The school is the only building remaining from this era.

The building is a combination of rural simplicity and mixed stylistic influences. The change of siding from cove rustic boards to fish scale shingles was probably influenced by the San Francisco Victorians then under construction. The entry porch draws from Greek Revival with simplified columns.

Adapted from the NRHP Nomination.