More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #964 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Forest Park was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1970.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forest Park is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #964 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Forest Park’s overall grade.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Forest Park’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Forest Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The City of Forest Park, Ohio was founded in 1956, two years after private developers Marvin Warner and Joseph Kanter purchased 3,400 acres of 5,930 acres north of Cincinnati originally set aside in 1935 by the Resettlement Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt to relocate struggling urban and rural families to one of three such communities planned by the government called Greenbelt towns.
The Greenbelt concept was abandoned in 1949 and the as yet undeveloped acreage of Greenhills, Ohio, which had opened in 1938, became available for purchase by the Warner-Kanter Corporation in 1954. After two years of planning they opened homes for purchase in the first residential area of Forest Park, the C section, in March 1956.
Forest Park is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #964 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Forest Park?
2% of Forest Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
2006
