Forest, California

Forest, California
Unincorporated community
Main Street in Forest
Forest, California Location within the state of California
Coordinates: 39°29′29″N 120°51′11″W / 39.49139°N 120.85306°WCoordinates: 39°29′29″N 120°51′11″W / 39.49139°N 120.85306°W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Sierra
Elevation	4,489 ft (1,368 m)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
GNIS feature ID	1658559[1]

Forest, also known as Forest City, is a small unincorporated community town site in Sierra County and the Sierra Nevada (mountains), in eastern California, the Western United States.^[1]

The town site of Forest is located at 4,489 feet (1,368 m) in elevation.

History

Gold was discovered here in 1852. The name of Brownsville was adopted by the name of the camp, named after one of the sailors who found that gold. By the next year, the population of Forest swelled to a thousand during the California Gold Rush. A vote was held in 1854 and the town's name was changed to "Forest City". The Bald Mountain drift mine was founded in Aug. 1864, and was the largest of its kind in the state at the time. The large fire of 1865 devastated the town, after which little was rebuilt.^[2]

Today it is primarily a historic ghost town. Old buildings still line its Main Street, including a former general store, saloon and dance hall, one–room schoolhouse, and church.

Former residents

Rich Brooks, the former Oregon Ducks Football and Kentucky Wildcats football head coach, is a notable native of Forest, California.

See also

• Downieville, California
• History of Sierra County, California
• California Gold Rush
• List of ghost towns in California

References

1. "Forest". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Gilbert, Frank; Wells, Harry (1882). Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 1513 to 1850. San Francisco: Fariss & Smith. pp. 473–474,478–483.

External links

• Ghost town explorers.org: photos of Forest, California