First House & Store in Forreston
Location:
This marker is located on the front lawn of the Forreston Grade School, 401 1st Avenue, Forreston, Illinois.
Dedication Date:
09/17/2005
Dedication By:
The 2004 Forreston Sesquicentennial Committee and The Illinois State Historical Society
Marker Description:
In the spring of 1825, Oliver W. Kellogg blazed a trail north through the prairie, passing near the future West Grove settlement, then a few miles east of Forreston, and up through Crane's Grove.
A year later, John Boles opened a shorter trail which passed through White Oak Grove, 1/2 mile west of Forreston, the location of the nearest log cabin to the town.
Secondary trails linked these major routes of pioneer travel and intersected at this location. Early settlers included immigrants from the lowlands of Ostfriesland in Northern Germany. Their narrative accounts recalled this location as the site of first brick house and store constructed in Forreston.
Founder George Hewitt platted the town in the fall of 1854, and built his brick home two blocks west of this location. The Illinois Central Railroad laid tracks to Forreston in the winter of that year, which led to the growth of the town.
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