Forestville is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in section 13 of Forestville Township

Forestville Township, Minnesota

Forestville Township is a township in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 386 at the 2000 census. It contains historic Forestville, which is now a Minnesota state park.-Geography:...

 in Fillmore County

Fillmore County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,122 people, 8,228 households, and 5,718 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile . There were 8,908 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The nearest communities are Wykoff

Wykoff, Minnesota

Wykoff is a city in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 444 at the 2010 census. Much of its downtown, on Gold Street, is designated as part of the Wykoff Commercial Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places....

, to the northwest, and Preston

Preston, Minnesota

Preston is a city in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,325 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fillmore County. The Root River runs through it, and Mystery Cave State Park is nearby...

, 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.

State Park

In 1949 the Minnesota State Legislature authorized the creation of Forestville State Park

Forestville Mystery Cave State Park

Forestville Mystery Cave State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA. It contains the village of Forestville which has been restored to a nineteenth century appearance. The Minnesota Historical Society operates it as a historic site. Below ground the park contains Mystery Cave, the longest cave...

, with the intent to preserve what remained of the abandoned townsite. Mystery Cave was added to the state park in 1987.