The story
Read it all →How Forestburgh came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Forestburgh.
The town was formed from parts of the Towns of Mamakating and Thompson in 1837.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Forestburgh
26% of Forestburgh’s homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Forestburgh Town Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1840.
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
What stands out about Forestburgh’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Forestburgh, and 9 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1960, then more than doubled.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1966. Watch Forestburgh change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Forestburg
Hartwood
Oakland Valley
Merriwold
Saint Josephs
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ForestburgFowlervilleHartwoodHartwood ClubMerriewold ParkOakland ValleyPhilwoldSaint JosephsSquirrels Corners
Gone or out of use
Oakland Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Forestburgh
ForestburgSaint Thomas Aquinas
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Forestburgh’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forestburgh’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Forestburgh, census by census
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1960, then more than doubled.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Forestburgh’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Forestburgh in 1873
Passages that mention Forestburgh, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Sullivan County1873 · page 284Read the page →
Read the text
Mr. Bumham has been a resident of Monticello during the last thirty years, and yet loves to give the particulars of his bear-hunt in Forestburgh. It may be said of some communities that the history of their Churches is a history of the people. Forestburgh, in its early days, was occupied by lumbermen; consequently saw-miUs enter largely into the account of its settlement.
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.
Timeline
Forestburgh, 1828 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1828Post officeThe Forestburg post office opens
- 1841Post officeThe Hartwood post office opens
- 1871Post officeThe Oakland Valley post office opens
- 1875
In the archiveCounty atlas of Sullivan, New York - 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 1,058
- 20th century
- 1909
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1918Post officeThe Forestburg post office closes
- 1933Post officeThe Oakland Valley post office closes
- 1953Post officeThe Hartwood post office closes
By decade
Forestburgh, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1875Today8 recent
2023Forestburgh, NY 42 nb (2), July 2023
2023Forestburgh, NY 42 nb (1), July 2023
2020Neversink River at Oakland Valley, NY
2020Mullet Falls in the Neversink Gorge
2014Interior of Forestburg (NY) Town Hall
2014Forestburg Town Hall outbuilding
2014Forestburg (NY) Town Hall, 1929
2006New York State Route 42 091606 111On the map
Forestburgh on the map, 1909 to 1966
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forestburgh. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Monticello sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Forestburgh.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Forestburgh
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Forestburgh Town Hall
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Forestburgh
Nobody well known was born in Forestburgh itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Forestburgh’s history
What is on the National Register in Forestburgh?
One place: the Forestburgh Town Hall (listed 2011).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.