Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1860.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Forrest Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forrest Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forrest Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Forrest Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points). Two sources give 1866.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Forrest Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Forrest was laid out on December 11, 1866, by Israel J. Krack (1816 – 1900). Krack was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Both of his parents had come from Germany. He was briefly a teacher, lived in Indiana, and came to Livingston County in 1854. Krack was a farmer, notary public, grain dealer, and in later life an insurance agent. Krack was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1872 and became treasurer of Livingston County in 1878. Krack Street, which parallels the railroad, was named for the town's founder.
Passages that mention Forrest Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878Read the page →
Read the text
Just when the first school house was built, and who taught the first school in Forrest Township, wex-e points we could not have fully determined. Mrs. Wilson informed us that she went to school in the old Court House in Pontiac before there were any schools in Forrest, but she could not call to mind who taught the first in her own neighborhood. In 1855, the public school system ■was adopted in Illinois, and the people of Forrest seem not to have lost a single day in organizing their schools. On the 24th day of February, 1855, we find a record of a meeting held at the residence of I. J. Krack, at which " Three
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Livingston County, Illinois1878Read the page →
Read the text
Forrest Township was named for Forrest Village, and Forrest Village for Forrest Township, and both for a Mr. Forrest, of New York, who was the business partner of Mr. Frost, President of the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad, when the T., P. & W. was known by that euphonious title. It was first called Forestville,* but at the special request of Mr. Frost, was changed to the name of Forrest, his * Spelled with one r. but the present name is spelled with two.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forrest Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Sibley sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Forrest Township.
People over time
Forrest Township, census by census
Between 357 and 1,246 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Forrest Township’s Wikipedia page.
In 1866, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Forrest Township’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1880 counted 357 people here.
How does Forrest Township rank for history?
Forrest Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Forrest Township?
35% of Forrest Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1957.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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