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History · Forest Hill

Forest Hill’s post office opened in 1893

Most of Forest Hill was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1930.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Hot Furnace · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Forest Hill began

When was Forest Hill founded?

1893

The Forest Hill post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bismark (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 304 in 19302020 census: 605133 years
Founding year: the first Forest Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Forest Hill’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 Forest Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 818 in 2010; 605 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Forest Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forest Hill’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
People over time

Forest Hill, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020Peak: 818

Peaked at 818 in 2010; 605 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story so far

Forest Hill, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Forest Hill yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Forest Hill is a village in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was placed at 605 according to the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 818 to 605 (-26%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Forest Hill, 1879 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Bismark post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Bismark post office closes
  4. 1893Post officeThe Forest Hill post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1936Born hereJay Chevalier is born here
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 818
By decade

Forest Hill, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Forest Hill, LA, water tower IMG 01472016Forest Hill, LA, water tower IMG 0147Forest Hill, LA, Town Hall IMG 01452016Forest Hill, LA, Town Hall IMG 0145Clyde Holloway Nursery, Forest Hill, LA IMG 01492016Clyde Holloway Nursery, Forest Hill, LA IMG 0149LAMap-doton-Forest Hill2004LAMap-doton-Forest Hill
On the map

Forest Hill on the map, 1956 to 2003

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

Forest Hill on the 1956 USGS mapForest Hill on the 1971 USGS mapForest Hill on the 1993 USGS mapForest Hill on the 2003 USGS map1956Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Forest Hill’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Bismark, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bismark
1879–1893
Forest Hill
1893–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Forest Hill’s history

What year was Forest Hill founded?

The Forest Hill post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.