Early Manning, with its two depots and rail lines extending in every direction, was a natural stopping place for travelers, salesmen, and railroad workers. By the time the town reached its first birthday, there were four hotels and numerous boarding houses, with their dozens of rooms never left empty.

The livery barns were well-stocked with horses, buggies, and horse-drawn buses for rent. Several of the barns included hearses and funeral rigs; the liveries saved their most dapper horses for funerals, or, if the bereaved family had some favorite horses, they could furnish their own to pull the rigs.

Many livery barns had rooms above the stables to rent to people who came to town with their own team or used a livery team. The horses were cared for at the livery as the people did their business or visiting.

The dray business flourished, as merchandise and materials arriving daily on the rail lines needed delivery to businesses and homes. There was enough business to keep three to six teams hauling steadily, the 1882 Monitor reported.

The Park Hotel, built in the winter of 1892-93, was located on the site which has been called Manning's first livery and feed establishment. Actually, it was an open section of ground, shaded by trees, with the "stalls" being circles about 15 feet in diameter, surrounding a post or tree.

Located at the corner of Sixth and Main Streets, the Park Hotel was convenient to travelers arriving on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad: the depot was one block south of the hotel. Those arriving on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad could go a block south to the Breon Hotel. When the Chicago & Great Western depot was built about 1896, it was sited two and a half blocks southwest of the Breon.

Because of the excellent railroad connections, many salesmen made Manning their headquarters and would travel to the surrounding towns by train or by livery team and buggy. Many would stay at the hotels a week at a time to do this traveling. Some would also set up displays in the hotel, sending cards to prospective buyers who would in turn come to Manning by train to buy the merchandise on display.

The Park Hotel, which offered salesmen a "sample room" for their displays, was especially popular. The L-shaped building was 100 feet by 140 feet, two stories high, with a wide, two-story veranda facing west and continuing part way along the south. The site for the hotel had been furnished by the businessmen of the town; the building itself cost $4500.

John Noble was the first proprietor, and he called the firm Noble's Hotel. In August, 1893, Wilson N. Rugg bought the furniture and fixtures, and renamed it the Park. He bought the building in 1896, and spent $500 on improvements such as a new heating plant and a water and sewer system. Rugg quickly earned the reputation for having the "best $2 house of any town in Iowa the size of Manning".

The Park Hotel was vacated about 1925; the 48 unit structure was torn down several years later, and the Standard Oil Station now stands in its place.

John Horn was a mechanic at the station.

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.

Another Standard station was found at the corner of Main and Second Streets. A quonsat-type building was erected by Emil Jansen, and later moved to the farm at the south of Willow Creek Park. In 1949, Dr. J.L. Loucks built an apartment building on the location.

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.

Tie 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. Although it was first announced that the hospital planned to expand to the highway, those plans have been temporarily tabled.