Forestville, Minnesota

Ghost town in Minnesota

United States historic place


Forestville Townsite--Meighan Store
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Minnesota State Register of Historic Places

Bridge to historic Forestville, Minnesota
43°38′34.23″N 92°12′53.37″W / 43.6428417°N 92.2148250°W / 43.6428417; -92.2148250
Area	425 acres (172 ha)
Architect	Foster, Robert; Meighen, Felix
Architectural style	Federal
NRHP reference No.	73000976^[1]
Added to NRHP	April 13, 1973

Forestville is a ghost town in section 13 of Forestville Township in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The nearest communities are Wykoff, to the northwest, and Preston, to the northeast.

History

The town of Forestville was settled in 1852 and organized in 1855, receiving this name in honor of Forest Henry, the first probate judge of Fillmore County. Henry settled in Forestville in 1854. The town was incorporated in 1891 and had a post office from 1855 until 1902.^[2]

Brothers-in-law William and Felix Meighen were some of the first settlers. Felix saw the need for a general store and stocked it with $700 worth of goods from Galena in October 1853. As more people arrived in Minnesota territory, the town gained a blacksmith shop, a cabinet shop, saw mills, farms, stores, grist mills and hotels.^[3]

The town's population began to drop after the railroad bypassed Forestville in 1868; many families began leaving for more prosperous areas. By 1880, the town's population was only 55 and most businesses had closed.^[4] As families left town, the Meighen family began buying up cheap property, and by 1889, they owned the entire town and its surrounding area.^[5] By the early 1900s, even the Meighen family had left Forestville, and their general store's doors were closed in 1910, marking the end of the town's life.^[6]

State Park

In 1949 the Minnesota State Legislature authorized the creation of Forestville State Park, with the intent to preserve what remained of the abandoned townsite. Mystery Cave was added to the state park in 1987.^[7]

Today Historic Forestville is operated as a historic site of the Minnesota Historical Society.^[8]

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	55		—
U.S. Decennial Census^[9]

Notes

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Upham, Warren (2001). Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. p. 196. ISBN 0-87351-396-7.
^ "The Meighens and Forestville | Historic Sites Minnesota Historical Society". sites.mnhs.org. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^ "The Meighens and Forestville | Historic Sites Minnesota Historical Society". sites.mnhs.org. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^ "The Meighens and Forestville | Historic Sites Minnesota Historical Society". sites.mnhs.org. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^ "The Meighens and Forestville | Historic Sites Minnesota Historical Society". sites.mnhs.org. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^ Upham, Warren (2001). Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. p. 200. ISBN 0-87351-396-7.
^ "Historic Forestville". mnhs.org. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 30, 2019.

External links

Minnesota Historical Society: Historic Forestville

Protected areas of Minnesota

National

Parks	Voyageurs
Monuments	Grand Portage Pipestone
Rivers	Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
Scenic Trails	North Country Trail
Wildlife Refuges	Agassiz Big Stone Crane Meadows Glacial Ridge Hamden Slough Mille Lacs Minnesota Valley Northern Tallgrass Prairie Rice Lake Rydell Sherburne Tamarac Upper Mississippi River
Wetland Management Districts	Big Stone Detroit Lakes Fergus Falls Litchfield Minnesota Valley Morris Windom
Forests	Chippewa Superior
Natural Landmarks	Ancient River Warren Channel Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Natural Area Keeley Creek Natural Area Lac la Croix Research Natural Area Lake Agassiz Peatlands Natural Area Pine Point Research Natural Area Upper Red Lake Peatland
Wilderness	Agassiz Boundary Waters Canoe Area Tamarac

State

Parks	Afton Banning Bear Head Lake Beaver Creek Valley Big Stone Lake Blue Mounds Buffalo River Camden Carley Cascade River Charles A. Lindbergh Crow Wing Father Hennepin Flandrau Forestville Mystery Cave Fort Ridgely Fort Snelling Franz Jevne Frontenac George H. Crosby Manitou Glacial Lakes Glendalough Gooseberry Falls Grand Portage Great River Bluffs Hayes Lake Hill-Annex Mine Interstate Itasca Jay Cooke John A. Latsch Judge C. R. Magney Kilen Woods Lac qui Parle Lake Bemidji Lake Bronson Lake Carlos Lake Louise Lake Maria Lake Shetek Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine Maplewood McCarthy Beach Mille Lacs Kathio Minneopa Monson Lake Moose Lake Myre-Big Island Nerstrand-Big Woods Old Mill Rice Lake Saint Croix Sakatah Lake Savanna Portage Scenic Schoolcraft Sibley Split Rock Creek Split Rock Lighthouse Temperance River Tettegouche Upper Sioux Agency Whitewater Wild River William O'Brien Zippel Bay
Recreation Areas	Big Bog Cuyuna Country Garden Island Greenleaf Lake Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle La Salle Lake Minnesota Valley Red River Saint Croix Islands
Waysides	Caribou Falls Devils Track Falls Flood Bay Inspiration Peak Joseph R. Brown Kodonce River Ray Berglund St. Croix Boom Site Sam Brown Memorial
Forests	Badoura Battleground Bear Island Beltrami Island Big Fork Birch Lakes Blackduck Bowstring Buena Vista Burntside Centennial Chengwatana Cloquet Valley Crow Wing D.A.R. Emily Finland Fond du Lac Foot Hills General C. C. Andrews George Washington Golden Anniversary Grand Portage Hill River Huntersville Insula Lake Jeanette Kabetogama Koochiching Lake Isabella Lake of the Woods Land o'Lakes Lost River Lyons Mississippi Headwaters Nemadji Northwest Angle Pat Bayle Remer Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood Rum River Saint Croix Sand Dunes Savanna Smokey Bear Smoky Hills Snake River Solana Sturgeon River Two Inlets Waukenabo Wealthwood Welsh Lake White Earth Whiteface River
Scientific and Natural Areas	List of scientific and natural areas

Local

Parks	County and regional parks Three Rivers Park District

Other

Minnesota Historical Society	Alexander Ramsey House Birch Coulee Battlefield Charles A. Lindbergh House Comstock House Folsom House Forest History Center Forestville Fort Renville Fort Ridgely Fort Snelling Grand Mound Harkin's General Store James J. Hill House Jeffers Petroglyphs Lac qui Parle Mission Lower Sioux Agency Marine Mill Mill City Museum Mille Lacs Indian Museum Minnehaha Depot Minnesota History Center Minnesota State Capitol Morrison Mounds Oliver Kelley Farm Sibley Historic Site Snake River Trading Post Split Rock Lighthouse Stumne Mounds Traverse des Sioux Upper Sioux Agency W. W. Mayo House
Nature centers	List of nature centers
Hiking	List of hiking trails

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

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Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category

v t e Municipalities and communities of Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States
County seat: Preston
Cities	Canton Chatfield‡ Fountain Harmony Lanesboro Mabel Ostrander Peterson Preston Rushford Village Rushford Spring Valley Whalan Wykoff	Map of Minnesota highlighting Fillmore County
Townships	Amherst Arendahl Beaver Bloomfield Bristol Canton Carimona Carrollton Chatfield Fillmore Forestville Fountain Harmony Holt Jordan Newburg Norway Pilot Mound Preble Preston Spring Valley Sumner York
Unincorporated communities	Bratsberg Cherry Grove Etna Fillmore Granger Greenleafton Hamilton Henrytown Highland Lenora Newburg Prosper
Ghost towns	Clear Grit Elliota Forestville
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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