Forrest, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Forrest, Illinois
Village
Location in Livingston County, Illinois
Location of Illinois in the United States
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Livingston
Townships	Forrest, Pleasant Ridge
Area
• Total	0.65 sq mi (1.68 km2)
• Land	0.65 sq mi (1.68 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	686 ft (209 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,041
• Density	1,606.48/sq mi (619.93/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	61741
Area code(s)	815
FIPS code	17-27026
GNIS feature ID	2398899
Wikimedia Commons	Forrest, Illinois

Forrest is a small village located in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. In 2020, about 1,041 people lived there. It's a quiet place with a rich history tied to railroads.

Exploring Forrest's Location

An aerial view of Forrest in 2012

Forrest is found in the southeastern part of Livingston County. Most of the village is in Forrest Township, but a small part stretches north into Pleasant Ridge Township.

Major Roads in Forrest

Two important roads pass through Forrest. U.S. Route 24 (also called Wabash Avenue) goes through the village. If you head east on this road, you'll reach Interstate 57 at Gilman in about 21 miles. Going west, you'll find Interstate 55 at Chenoa about 17 miles away.

Illinois Route 47 (Center Street) crosses U.S. Route 24 near the center of Forrest. This route goes north about 24 miles to Dwight and south about 20 miles to Gibson City.

Size of the Village

According to the 2010 census, Forrest covers a total area of about 0.68 square miles (1.76 square kilometers). All of this area is land, meaning there are no large lakes or rivers within the village limits.

Forrest's Past: A Look at Its History

Forrest has an interesting history, especially how it was founded and grew with the help of railroads.

How Forrest Was Founded and Named

Forrest was officially started on December 11, 1866, by a man named Israel J. Krack. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and his parents came from Germany. Krack was a farmer, a notary public (someone who can legally witness signatures), and an insurance agent. He even served in the Illinois government and became the treasurer of Livingston County. Krack Street in Forrest is named after him.

Unlike some other towns that were built when railroads first arrived, Forrest was laid out almost ten years after the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad began operating. People in Forrest didn't even know the full name of the person the town was named after! They only knew he was a business partner of a railroad official named C. L. Frost. The first idea for the name was "Forestville," but "Forrest" quickly became the official spelling. Soon after, Forrest Township was also named after the village.

Early Days: Design and Businesses

Even before the town was officially planned, Israel J. Krack was already running a grain elevator in the area around 1861 or 1862. Like many towns back then, Forrest was designed around the railroad. The original town plan had a simple grid of twenty blocks.

Mr. Krack built the first house in Forrest. He was also the first postmaster and the first station agent for the railroad. He helped plan many new parts of the town as it grew. The first hotel, called the Forrest House, was built by William Umberfield. The first mill was built by R. B. Wilson. The first church in Forrest was built by the Methodists in 1868.

The town grew quickly, reaching over 1,000 people by 1890. Many early buildings in Forrest were made from inexpensive pine wood brought in by train from Michigan or Wisconsin. Forrest faced many fires. In the winter of 1868-1869, much of the business area burned down but was quickly rebuilt. Another big fire in 1890 destroyed a large part of downtown Forrest. But again, the town rebuilt fast, and by 1893, it had five hotels!

The Wabash Railroad Arrives

The people of Forrest really wanted a second railroad to come through their town. Their wish came true when the Wabash Railroad built its tracks through Forrest in 1880. On May 1 of that year, the first Wabash train passed through.

Forrest became an important stop on the Wabash line, which connected Chicago and Kansas City. Soon, repair shops were built, and by the early 1890s, over sixty men worked there. The town became a key place for shipping freight for the railroad.

However, by the 1920s, Forrest's time as a major railroad center began to fade. In 1924, the state of Illinois started building a paved road that would later become Route 24, changing how people traveled and goods were moved.

Cool Historical Landmarks

Forrest's Wabash Railroad depot in April 2016

In Railroad Park in Forrest, you can find several important items related to the town's railroad past.

• There's a surviving railroad turntable here. A turntable is a large rotating platform that was used to turn locomotives around. This one was repainted in 2017.
• The park also has the old Wabash Railroad station.
• You can also see a restored Norfolk & Western Railroad caboose. A caboose is a special car at the end of a freight train.

The old Wabash Railroad station is now a museum. Inside, you can see a detailed model of Forrest as it looked during its busiest railroad days. This model even has a working turntable and electric train tracks! The museum also displays many old items from the early 1900s.

Forrest's Population Over Time

The population of Forrest has changed over the years. In 2010, there were 1,220 people living in the village. Most residents were White (93.0%). A smaller number of people were Black (0.4%), Asian (0.2%), or from two or more races. About 6.1% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino background.

In 2010, there were 469 households in Forrest. About 33% of these households had children under 18 living with them. Most households (53.9%) were married couples living together. The median age in Forrest was 35.9 years. This means half the people were younger than 35.9 and half were older.

See also

In Spanish: Forrest (Illinois) para niños