[2] The roots of Forreston date to 1843, when the area was known as Howe's Settlement, named for an early settler in the region.

From the early 1850s to the late 1880s, Chambers Creek remained a small farming community, providing a school and a church for local residents and farmers.

The community was renamed Forreston, after Carr Forrest, a local landowner who was the first postmaster and who donated the land on which the new rail depot was built.

In August 2007, Forreston was featured in "Shop Vintage with Ken Weber" in the publication, D Magazine.

Denver Pyle, a supporting actor in many roles, including CBS's The Doris Day Show and The Dukes of Hazzard, is interred in an unmarked grave at Forreston Cemetery.