Tucked along Highway 35 in the northern reaches of Alberta, Manning sits on the banks of the Notikewin River, roughly 73 kilometres north of the Town of Peace River. It serves as a practical hub for the surrounding region, supporting local agriculture, forestry, and natural gas industries. The nearby rural communities of Deadwood, Hotchkiss, North Star, and Notikewin all fall within the County of Northern Lights and look to Manning as a key service centre. The town carries the informal nickname the “Land of the Mighty Moose,” a nod to the wildlife-rich boreal landscape that surrounds it.
Manning’s origins stretch back to the post-First World War era, when the Dominion government worked through the Soldier Settlement Board to open unsettled land on the Battle River Prairie to returning veterans. By 1921 the district had grown to around 500 residents, with Notikewin emerging as an early regional centre. Medical services in those early years were limited, relying on mobile clinics staffed by nurses, including nurse Mary Little and later Dr. Mary Percy, who arrived from England in 1929 and served the area until 1937. Pressure from growing settlement led to the construction of the eight-bed Battle River Hospital, completed on September 4, 1937, with land donated by John Robertson. The 1947 extension of the Mackenzie Highway through the area transformed what had been intended as the settlement of Aurora into a government construction and maintenance centre. That same year, at a public meeting, residents renamed the community in honour of Alberta Premier Ernest Manning, who had taken office four years prior.