As I'm constantly writing about - there is always something going on in Manning - and I'm generally there to capture and thoroughly document it.
Many of you may have heard that Caseys is going to build a new store in Manning this year which will be located at the old location of Rix Amoco (later known as Jet X-press).
For those of you who are long-time followers of my historical work you would expect me to show some historical perspective of this recent project and future construction site of Caseys.
So click below to take a trek into the past.

Follow along with a trek across time from the 1930s to 2020.
From Johannes Bunz to Gene Steffes.

It will show you the physically hard work it took to succeed and turn Manning into the community it is today, but sadly as changes continue in society, we have become a throw away world and seem to worship "new" over preserving and reusing the "old."

In 2016, Claus Bunz brought me his 2 large family scrapbooks to go through and scan...below are some of those pictures.

Johannes Bunz first shop in Manning
Location at the old Priebe business then later the Manning Blood Plant

Johannes' second shop across the road from the Blood plant to the north.
The boy is Johannes' son, Claus, 1937

Melvin "Tommy" Wolfe later purchased this building from Bunz in June of 1958.
He ran the "Manning Welding Shop" here until 1977, when he retired.
Heinie Otto and also Roy Schilling worked for Tommy at this location.

Heinie Otto & "Hannes" Bunz 1935

Johannes & Augusta (Kolln) Bunz November 14, 1933

Now we are at the third location for Hannes down in the bottom along 141. Construction of a new building began in 1950.

Hannes Bunz & Erwin Hansen

Hannes Bunz

Claus Bunz believes that John Jacob "Jake" Fielweber was contracted by Johannes to construct the Bunz building.
Jacob was the father of Chuck Fielweber, who in later years owned and operated the Town & Country Lumber Company…assisted by his brother Art.

Open House 1951

Open House

Melvin "Tommy" Wolfe, Art Gruhn, Johannes Bunz, Amos Kusel, Bill Wiese
Art Gruhn & Amos Kusel were silent partners for a while in the business with Hannes Bunz.

Johannes Bunz, Tommy Wolfe

Bunz Implement Service - 1961 note 141 was 2 lanes yet.

Bunz Implement Service

1961 Looking east on 141 - the culverts are preparation for expanding 141 into a four-lane.

1961 Looking east on 141

I don't know the exact year but sometime before 1940 there was no road in this bottom. It was Highway 44 at that time and it came in from the east like it does now, but once it hit the east edge of Manning, you turned north on East Street, then headed west down Third Street over to West Street, then turned south to the intersection where you would then head out west on 44 again.

The reason for this is because the bottom was one big wetland with the Willow Creek wandering all around the floodplain.

Lester Wiese told me that when he was a young boy, during floods they couldn't get into Manning for a week or more until the waters finally receded through the wetland bottom.

1962 now a four-lane concrete road.
The west part of the building housed G&R Hatchery (Glen Kusel & Ross Graner)

We've been trying to figure out who Anne is???

Anne's Drive-in

Ralph Monson's Champlin Station - far left

Ralph Monson's Champlin Station in background

Looking southeast

Looking southwest - Puck Implement on the left and DX in the background.

Looking north

Transitional period after Bunz and before Rix
From the 1981 Manning Centennial history book.
Hannes Bunz retired March 1, 1963, and the firm was sold to Art Talbott, Ivan Opperman, and Larry Witt, who renamed it the Manning Implement Company.
They handled International, New Idea and several short lines such as Farmhand and Bearcat until the company closed in the spring of 1972.

RASMUSSEN LUMBER CO.
Rasmussen Lumber Co. in Manning was established in 1975 as a branch of the Rasmussen Lumber Co. of Manilla, which originated in 1947 as a family enterprise.
The father, Peder Rasmussen, who died in 1954, and his four sons, Leo, Jack, Bob and Otto, have been in the business since it began.
They have recently been joined by the third generation, Jim, Jerry, Dennis and Mike. There are between 40 and 55 men employed through the two yards and the Manning Ready-Mix.
The Manning Rasmussen Lumber Co. first located in the east half of the Bunz property on Highway 141. As space became available they expanded into the whole property.
Manning Ready-Mix had been operating in Manning since 1961 as a subsidiary of the Rasmussen Lumber Companies.
At present, the Ready-Mix services the area with seven trucks. The manager, who has moved to Manning with his family to assume the position, is Barry Dunshee.

2000 Rix Amoco on the same location as the Bunz building. Now we'll look back at some Standard Oil Company history which will eventually all fit together in this story as we trek throughout more of Manning history.
From the 1981 Manning Centennial book
The Standard Station, at the northeast corner of Highway 141 and Main Streets, is one of the oldest service stations in Manning.
Durings its 50 year history, the owners have changed, the original building replaced, and it was switched to a Conoco franchise for a short while, but today it is continued as a dealer for Amoco's Standard products.
Between 1930 and 1945, the tiny station on the centrally located corner lot was operated by a number of people, including Warren Bartels, Harry Schade and Merle Stoelk. The land at the corner of Highway 141 and Main Street was originally owned by Chris Pfoltner. In 1945, he built a large building to house both a service station and garage, which were run by Fred Petersen. In 1953, Petersen sold the service station part to Ken Fogleman, while Fred's son Warren and James Albert continued the garage.
George Pfoltner purchased the land in 1960, and brothers Allen and Larry Rix took over the service station the same year. The station became known as the A&L Station, but in 1965, they changed the name to the present Rix Bros. Allen continues to operate the service station.
The garage closed in 1967, and the showroom, used as a recreation center in the mid-1960's, is now the headquarters for Larry's tank wagon service. Larry took over the tank wagon from LeRoy Mundt, who had retired in 1978 after a 32 year career in the business.
The building was remodeled in 1961, when an addition was made to the south, and new restrooms, lights, and hoists were added.
The building was given a new porcelain front in Amoco's new choice of colors; Amoco representatives came to Manning to inspect the red-white-gray pattern, and changed to other colors. Manning's station was, and is, the only Amoco station in the United States to have these colors.
A car wash was added in 1970.
George Pfoltner sold the land in 1976 to the Manning General Hospital, which is located across Fifth Street to the north of the station.

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Allen Rix continued to run the Standard Oil station until May of 1998 when he moved to the new location 4 blocks east of Main Street on the north side of 141, as shown in the picture directly above.
Unfortunately I don't have any good head-on shots of the old Rix/Petersen building.

This amazing and wonderful historical image was scanned from one of those picture/postcards that so many small companies printed years ago.
Next to the hospital was the Diamond DX Station and next to 141 was the Conoco Station.
Note that the water tower has Manning printed on the south side.
The large house behind the Conoco sign was the home of George & Ida Dethlefs.

Gerald Schroeder Standard Oil employee
Walter Hauschildt was one of the managers of this station
Standard Station before it became the Conoco Station.

This Children's Day image shows the DX sign on the building next to the hospital.

1950 Children's Day
It is because of pictures like these 2 above that I want to go through Manning collections that anyone has...
I'll find historical aspects they won't realize they even have and would miss should they choose what they want to give me to scan.

I'm fairly sure this image shows when the station was brand new.
Ed Groppe was one of the managers...

In 2011 the family of Gerald Schoeder let me go through their family scrapbook. Here are some pictures pertinent to this story.

1948 Gerald Schroeder burning trash - the large Petersen garage not yet built.
Schroeders lived in the Groppe Apartments - I believe in the southeast corner of the hospital block next to 141

Groppe siblings: Edwin, Jr., JoAnn, Alan
June 1, 1948 Children's Day

Elaine (Barnes) Frantz, Bud Barnes, Rose (Hagedorn) Barnes
Bud was a DX employee

Children's Day - early 1950s - Amos Rutz slide
DX to the left and Petersen Garage back right

"All good things come to an end!" with the old DX station being razed.

April 21, 1938 ad in the Monitor

September 20, 1945 ad in the Monitor

August 20, 1953 ad in the Monitor

1949 - the large block building that housed the Petersen Garage - back left

Back: Dorothy Sextro, Virgene Grimm, Donna Neubaum, Mary Ann Rothfolk, Mary Jane Grage, Dorothy Moore, Marie Ploog, Lois Wilhelm
Front: Beverly Ocshner, Marian Kasperbauer, Iva Mohr, Arlys Wegner, Deloris Dammann, Neoma Popp, Sally Grundmeier
Chris Pfoltner building in the background - known as the Petersen Garage before the Rix brothers purchased the business.