Forest, also known as Forest City, is a small unincorporated community town site in Sierra County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada.[1]

Forest, California
Main Street in Forest
Main Street in Forest
Forest is located in California
Forest
Forest
Location in California
Forest is located in the United States
Forest
Forest
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 39°29′29″N 120°51′11″W / 39.49139°N 120.85306°W / 39.49139; -120.85306
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountySierra
Elevation
4,489 ft (1,368 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID1658559[1]

The town site of Forest is located at 4,489 feet (1,368 m) in elevation.

History

edit

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. A vote was held in 1854 and the town's name was changed to "Forest City". The Bald Mountain drift mine 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.[2]

Today, Forest is primarily a historic 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 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

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Forest". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Frank; Wells, Harry (1882). Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 1513 to 1850. San Francisco: Fariss & Smith. pp. 473–474, 478–483.
edit