Forest, also known as Forest City, is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

town site in Sierra County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States, in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. The town site of Forest is located at in elevation.

History

Gold was discovered here in 1852. The name of Brownsville was adopted as the name of the camp, after one of the sailors who had found the gold. By the next year, the population of Forest had swelled to over a thousand during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. A vote was held in 1854 and the town's name was changed to "Forest City". The Bald Mountain

drift mine Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...

was founded in August 1864, and was the largest of its kind in the state at the time. Large fires in 1865 and 1883 devastated the town, after which little was rebuilt. Today, Forest is primarily a historic

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

, though there are a few year-round residents. Old buildings still line its Main Street, including a former general store, saloon and dance hall. A one–room schoolhouse, two cemeteries, and a few scattered residences can be found in the hills around the town. The

National Socialist Kindred The National Socialist Kindred was a group that sought to combine Esoteric Nazism and Odinism with a plan to create a White separatists, White separatist "Intentional community, Folk Community" in Northern California called Volksberg. The group w ...

had its beginnings in Forest before moving to a nearby property on Alleghany Ridge Road between Camptonville and North San Juan. The town was also home to several associates of the National Alliance up until the late 1990s.

Notable residents

Rich Brooks Richard Llewellyn Brooks (born August 20, 1941) is a retired American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of OregonMcCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, Oregon: McCann Communic ...

, former

Oregon Ducks Football The Oregon Ducks football program is a college football team for the University of Oregon, located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12). Although ...

and

Kentucky Wildcats football The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern D ...

head coach * Jeanette Lawrence, writer and lecturer; born and raised in Forest *

Stephen McNallen Stephen Anthony McNallen (born October 15, 1948) is an American proponent of Heathenry, a modern Pagan new religious movement, and a white nationalist activist. He founded the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), which he led from 1994 until 2016, havi ...

, white nationalist activist and founder of the Asatru Folk Assembly; former resident

References

External links

Ghost town explorers.org: photos of Forest, California
Unincorporated communities in Sierra County, California Ghost towns in California History of Sierra County, California Unincorporated communities in California {{SierraCountyCA-geo-stub

History

Notable residents

See also

References

External links