The first European settlers, Joseph and Martha Sydney, founded a mill on Fall Creek in 1794, and other grist and sawmills were soon constructed. During this time the community was called Free Hollow, which changed to Forest Home in 1876. Two historic steel truss bridges, both still used today, were finished in the early twentieth century. The last operating mill in the village was closed in 1926. Today, Forest Home is a small residential community nearly surrounded by the Cornell Botanic Gardens.
The Forest Home Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Forest Home. — This is the euphonious name of a little settlement on Fall Creek, about two miles east of Ithaca, which was known for many years as *'Free Hollow." A small manufacturing interest was started there about the year 1812, by a Mr. Phenix, who built a grist mill, and one has been maintained there ever since. In 1819 Jacob G.
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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
