Forest, Indiana

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox settlement    |official_name = Forest |settlement_type = [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]] and [[Census-designated place]] |motto =  |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = USA Indiana Clinton County |pushpin_label_position = |pushpin_map_caption = |pushpin_mapsize =  |subdivision_type = [[Countries of the world|Country]] |subdivision_name = [[United States]] |subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]] |subdivision_name1 = [[Indiana]] |subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Indiana|County]] |subdivision_name2 = [[Clinton County, Indiana|Clinton]] |subdivision_type3 = [[List of townships in Indiana|Township]] |subdivision_name3 = [[Forest Township, Clinton County, Indiana|Forest]]  |established_title = Founded |established_date = 1 September 1874  |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 =  |population_as_of = |population_footnotes = |population_note = |population_total =  |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|40|22|30|N|86|19|57|W|region:US-IN|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/> |elevation_ft = 883 |founder = |named_for =  |postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]] |postal_code = 46039 |area_code = |blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]] |blank_info = 18-23926<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |accessdate=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> |blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID |blank1_info = 2830342<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2830342}}</ref> |website = |footnotes = }} '''Forest''' is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] in [[Forest Township, Clinton County, Indiana|Forest Township]], [[Clinton County, Indiana|Clinton County]], [[Indiana]].

==History== The town of Forest was [[plat]]ted on September 1, 1874, by Henry Y. Morrison to serve as a station along the [[Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad]] (later the [[Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad|Clover Leaf]] Railroad). The town's name was given because the site was forested, and the first railroad tickets sold there were issued from an oak stump used as a ticket counter. The town gained a post office in 1877 with C. G. R. Sims as the first postmaster.

The residents of Forest supported the [[Temperance movement]], as a county history describes: <blockquote> A reckless man undertook to establish a saloon here in the spring of 1886, despite the protests of the citizens, but after his building had been blown up with dynamite he decided to seek another location. </blockquote>

As of circa 1913, the town had "about four hundred" inhabitants and considerable activity, including a bank (Citizens), three churches ([[Baptist]], [[Methodist]] and [[Christian Holiness Partnership|Christian Holiness]]), and a number of lodges and fraternal organizations, including the [[Independent Order of Odd Fellows|Odd Fellows]] (172 men) and [[International Association of Rebekah Assemblies|Rebekahs]] (58 women), [[Knights of Pythias]] (77 members), [[Freemasonry|Masons]] (70), [[Improved Order of Red Men]] (48) and [[Modern Woodmen of America]] (26).<ref name="hcc">{{cite book |last=Claybaugh |first=Joseph |title=History of Clinton County, Indiana |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofclinton02clay |year=1913 |publisher=A. W. Bowen & Company |location=Indianapolis |chapter=Forest Township }}</ref> As of 2016, Forest has much less considerable activity with only the post office and three churches still running.

==Demographics== The [[United States Census Bureau]] first delineated Forest as a [[census designated place]] in the 2022 [[American Community Survey]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=2022 Geography Changes|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/table-and-geography-changes/2022/geography-changes.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=}}</ref>

==References== <references /> {{commons category}}

[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Clinton County, Indiana]] [[Category:Unincorporated communities in Indiana]]