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Forest, California facts for kids

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Forest, California
Main Street in Forest
Main Street in Forest
Forest, California is located in California
Forest, California
Forest, California
Location in California
Forest, California is located in the United States
Forest, California
Forest, California
Location in the United States
Country United States
State California
County Sierra
Elevation
4,489 ft (1,368 m)
Time zone UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID 1658559

Forest, also known as Forest City, is a small unincorporated community town site in Sierra County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada.

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.

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.


Notable residents

  • Rich Brooks, former Oregon Ducks Football and Kentucky Wildcats football head coach
  • Jeanette Lawrence, writer and lecturer; born and raised in Forest
  • Stephen McNallen, white nationalist activist and founder of the Asatru Folk Assembly; former resident
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