Forester is an extinct town in Scott County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. It is located about 21 miles east-southeast of

Waldron, Arkansas Waldron is a city in Scott County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 3,386 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Scott County. History Waldron was platted in 1845 by surveyor W. P. Waldron, and named for him. A post offic ...

. The

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

classifies it as a populated place.

History

Forester was founded in 1930 as a sawmill

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

owned by Caddo River Lumber Company. It was named after Charles Forrester, a local businessman. A post office called Forester was established in 1930, and remained in operation until 1953. In 1932, the

Arkansas Western Railway The Arkansas Western Railway operated a 32-mile rail line between Heavener, Oklahoma and Waldron, Arkansas. It bought the assets of its predecessor in 1904, and the company was merged out of existence in 1992. History About three years after the ...

built an extension of about 22 miles from Waldron to Forester to service the sawmill. It was Charles Forester who convinced the railroad to build it. Caddo River, having cut all the largest timber, sold the town to Dierks Lumber and Coal in 1945. The operation continued, but depletion of the forests caused the mill to shut down in 1952. The buildings were torn down or moved, and the rail line from Waldron was taken out shortly after. However, a reunion park at the log pond has been maintained by The Forester Historical Society since 1983.

References

Geography of Scott County, Arkansas Ghost towns in Arkansas {{ScottCountyAR-geo-stub