Forest Township is one of fourteen

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Clinton County, Indiana Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 33,224. The county seat is Frankfort. History Clinton County officially came into existence on March 1, 1830, and was named in honor of DeWitt Cli ...

. As of the 2010 census, its population was 760 and it contained 328 housing units. The township was named for the large amount of timber it contained at the time it was organized.

History

After the completion of the " Clover Leaf" railroad through the area in 1874 and the establishment of the town of

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

along it, residents petitioned the county commissioners to create a new township for their area out of the existing

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

townships. On January 2, 1882, the petition was granted and the township organized with Samuel M. Davis as the first trustee. The first permanent white settlers in the township were Page and Sarah Sims who arrived in 1839 and resided in the township until their death. The arrival of pioneers here was somewhat later than in other parts of the county since Forest was originally within the

Big Miami Reserve The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were *Treaty with the Wyandot, etc. *Treaty with the Wy ...

and off limits to white settlement until 1838. The population grew slowly and remained sparse and scattered for some years. The first church in the township was the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Swamp Creek chapel built in 1850 near the southern border, and later replaced by St. Paul's church. A post office was established in 1860 in the hamlet of Martinsville, with Martin Davis as the first postmaster.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of , of which (or 99.92%) is land and (or 0.04%) is water.

Unincorporated towns

Adjacent townships

* Monroe Township, Howard County (north) * Honey Creek Township, Howard County (northeast) * Prairie Township, Tipton County (east) * Johnson Township (south) * Michigan Township (southwest) * Warren Township (west)

Major highways

Indiana State Road 26 State Road 26 (IN 26 or SR 26) is an east–west discontinuous state road in the central part of the US state of Indiana. The western end of the western segment is at the Illinois border, where it continues as Illinois Rou ...

Cemeteries

The township contains three cemeteries: St. Paul Cemetery which was originally known as Swamp Creek Cemetery. The first recorded burial was in 1852 and today has 1,367 graves. Smith Cemetery was used from 1851-1880 and has 23 graves. Union Cemetery which was originally known as Stringer Cemetery. The first recorded burials were in 1849 and it currently has 438 graves

References

*
United States Census Bureau cartographic boundary files
{{authority control Townships in Clinton County, Indiana Townships in Indiana Populated places established in 1882 1882 establishments in Indiana