Forest City, Pennsylvania

Forest City, Pennsylvania
Borough
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Susquehanna
Settled	1871
Incorporated	1888
Area
• Total	0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Population  (2000)
• Total	1,855
• Density	2,053.3/sq mi (795.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Zip code	18421
Area code	570

Forest City is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Forest City is situated at the corner of Susquehanna County, Lackawanna County and Wayne County, Pennsylvania and is designated by a marker which is located in the Forest City Industrial Park.

At its height in the early twentieth century, between the timber, silk, lumber and coal industries, the population was close to 6,000. Today, Forest City is 3 avenues by 8 blocks as the 'main city' with a small surrounding suburb housing 1,855 in the 2000 census, with 87% of the population living 'in town'.

History

The land that would become Forest City was settled in 1864 by William Pentecost and family and chosen for its dense forest, of which only a small portion of the original forest still remains today in the Industrial Park (where mine #1 was once located). Originally called "Forest Mills", it was originally settled by lumbermen and their families.

Between 1866 and 1871, the Jefferson Branch, a railroad spur of the D & H Canal Company., was built in Forest Mills. It ran between Susquehanna Depot and Carbondale, transporting the harvested lumber. Lumbering was the only industry of this area, with the exception of a small mining operation run by William Pentecost, which supplied only sufficient coal to neighboring farmers for winter fuel.

In 1871, an outcropping of coal was discovered. The Hillside Coal and Iron Company bought large tracts of land in the area, and by 1872 the first commercially profitable coal mining enterprise was established at North Railroad Street. A small breaker erected on Railroad Street processed the 75 ton daily output from this operation until 1883.

In 1886, another shaft, Shaft No. 2, was opened. This brought an influx of miners, mostly Welsh, into the area. There were now 300 men and boys employed in the production of coal.

Coal mining continued until The Great Depression hit this town hard, as primary sector of the economy products as lumber and coal were hardest hit. The population slowly dwindled as the coal mining came to a halt. Today, "The Coal Miner's Inn" on Main Street serves as a reminder of this once flourishing coal town.

There are important agricultural interests in the region. At the onset of the twentieth century, coal-mining and silk manufacturing were the chief industries, but they have declined to the vanishing point.

In 1879, the local post office adopted the name "Pentecost" which it later changed to "Forest City" in 1886. Forest City was incorporated in 1888.

Geography

Forest City is 23 miles (37 km) north by east of Scranton.

Forest City is located at 41°39′3″N 75°28′5″W (41.650907, -75.468180)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.4 km²), of which, 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (3.23%) is water.

Forest City's motto is "one mile of hospitality".

Demographics

In 1900, the population was 4,279, and in 1910, 5,749. As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,855 people, 790 households, and 454 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,053.3 people per square mile (795.8/km²).

There were 790 households out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 40.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 26.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.87.

The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 81.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $26,766, and the median income for a family was $35,625. The per capita income for the borough was $15,774. About 7.2% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Churches

At its height, Forest City, Pennsylvania was in the Guinness Book of World Records as "the town with the most churches in a town" due to the historical influx of immigrants settling in primary sector of the economy towns such as Forest City, as each successive ethnic minority would build their own church.

Up until recent years, Forest City's overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population boasted five churches: St. Anthony, St. Michael, St. Agnes, St. Joseph, and Sacred Heart. While St. Agnes was a territorial church, the other four were ethnic churches. St. Anthony's was Lithuanian; St. Michael's was Slovakian; St. Joseph's was Slovenian; and Sacred Heart was Polish.

To contend with a falling population and a severe shortage of priests, St. Anthony's and St. Michael's were closed and subsequently torn down in 1993. From damage sustained from the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 (and with no funds for repair), St. Agnes was closed due to structural damage. From lack of care, the building is scheduled for demolition in 2009. This leaves only St. Joseph and Sacred Heart Catholic churches. Again, in 2006, a lack of financial means and the spike in heating costs forced the temporary closing of Sacred Heart Church, in favor of keeping the larger St. Joseph open. However, in the future, it is specualted that the smaller and better-constructed Sacred Heart Church will accommodate the dwindling population, so the Sacred Heart building is maintained.

Forest City is also home to one Episcopal, Methodist, and Eastern Rite Catholic Church, each with small attendance- a testament to the variety of ethic beliefs of Forest City's residents.

Senior Care

The William Penn apartment complex for seniors is on Main Street and the Forest City Nursing and Rehab Center is on Delaware Street. This represents up to 7% of the population of Forest City.

Living in Forest City

Forest City's Main Street serves the people in town, but as a quasi-city in its own right has undergone some tough times. Over the years businesses have closed their doors and new businesses have a hard time staying open.

Main Street features its own supermarket, two banks, an ice cream store, two hardware stores, a pharmacy among other businesses, and maintains its own zip code 18421- it is where the rural surrounding towns go to when they "go to the city". Forest City has its own police force which also serves the surrounding towns. As of September 2008, Forest City's latest addition is a Subway fast food restaurant which opened September 18, 2008 and literally had lines out the door.

Forest City has two parks: Kennedy Park, located on Pennsylvania Route 247 five blocks from Main Street which has a lake, baseball fields, tennis and basketball courts, playground and nature trail and Babe Ruth park on Railroad Street which has a playground, field and basketball court.

Forest City holds an annual festival every year called "Old Home Week". The week long festival features local bands, arts and crafts, carnival games, festival food, and a huge fireworks display at Kennedy Park.

Forest City Regional School District is a K-12 school that draws over 1,000 students from a 10 mile radius.

External links

• The Forest City News
• Pictures
• A short history of Forest City
• Forest City Regional School District