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B−History
History · Forreston Township

Forreston Township dates to 1854, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Forreston Township began

When was Forreston Township founded?

1854

Forreston Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,108 in 18802020 census: 2,005172 years

How historic is Forreston Township?

B−

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Forreston Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forreston Township is more historic than 53% 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 Forreston Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194036.6% of homes (±8.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%
NewerOlder

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 Forreston 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 (±8.4 points). Two sources give 1854.

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 Forreston Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Forreston Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Forreston Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Forreston Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forreston Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Forreston Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Forreston Township.

Read it all →

Forreston was platted in 1854, and named for the forests near the original town site.

Brought on by the town's predominant population of German-ancestry, the annual "Sauerkraut Days" was a popular free-food festival held in the city limits of Forreston.

Sauerkraut Days has recently been started up again, taking place in August with food and a car show.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Forreston Township, 1854 to 1942

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingForreston Township is established
  3. 1858Post officeThe Baileyville post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Harper post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1918Post officeThe Harper post office closes
  7. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Forreston Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Lazarus Blk Built 19402012Lazarus Blk Built 1940Forreston, IL Veterans Memorial 022007Forreston, IL Veterans Memorial 02Forreston, IL Veterans Memorial 012007Forreston, IL Veterans Memorial 01Forreston, IL Sign 022007Forreston, IL Sign 02Forreston, IL Post Office2007Forreston, IL Post OfficeForreston, IL Fire Dept 012007Forreston, IL Fire Dept 01
On the map

Forreston Township on the map, 1942 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forreston Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Forreston Township on the 1942 USGS mapForreston Township on the 1983 USGS map1942Forreston 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 Forreston Township.

People over time

Forreston Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,469

Between 870 and 1,469 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Forreston Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Harper, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Baileyville
1858–today
Harper
1881–1918
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BaileyvilleHarper
Gone or out of use
Gravel Hill SchoolschoolGravel Pit SchoolschoolKutz QuarrymineMaple Hill SchoolschoolMoring AirportairportPleasant Hill SchoolschoolPrairie Dell SchoolschoolUnion SchoolschoolWhite Oak Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Forreston Township
Forreston GrovePrairie DellWhite Oak

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Maryland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCherry Grove-Shannon TownshipIts storyBForrestonIts storyB−

Questions about Forreston Township’s history

What year was Forreston Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Forreston Township’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 1,108 people here.

How does Forreston Township rank for history?

Forreston Township is more historic than 53% 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 Forreston Township?

37% of Forreston Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1956.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.