[1][2] During the survey of the Garafraxa Colonization Road, constructed from Arthur to Georgian Bay in 1840–48, land was reserved for a settlement.

The settlement was surveyed into lots in 1853 by Francis Kerr, a provincial land surveyor, with the village-plot named Mount Forest.

The 1871 town directory stated that Mount Forest had ten hotels, eight churches and 18 stores.

Later that year the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway was completed and the first train entered Mount Forest pulled by a wood-burning engine.

The first high school was originally in the Old Drill Hall, but was an unsuitable location because it was beside the Market Square where livestock sales were held monthly.

A third high school was founded in 2004, with students from the neighbouring town of Arthur joining those from the Mount Forest district.

At an elevation of 430 meters (1,410 ft) above sea level, Mount Forest is one of the highest towns in Southern Ontario being located in the western portion of the Dundalk Highlands.

Mount Forest's library was completed in 1913 with a grant of $10,000 from well-known philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

It gives local businesses within Northern Wellington Township an opportunity to grow their customer/client base and meet fellow young professionals within the community.

Northern Wellington Young Professionals operates out of Mount Forest but holds events in Harriston and Arthur as well.

Mount Forest saw a lot of growth in the late 19th century, as by 1891, the population of the town was 2,214 people.

Mount Forest saw significant growth during the 1980's, as the town population increased by nearly 1,000 people between 1981 and 1991.

[19] Today, Mount Forest United Church is one of two congregations in Mount Forest-Woodland Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada in what is now Western Ontario Waterways Regional Council (Region 8), and was formerly in Hamilton Conference.

[20] Methodist circuit riders first began ministering throughout the region in the 1840s, the first being the Reverend John Shilton in 1842.

In 1844, Shilton led the construction of the first Methodist place of worship in Mount Forest, on the corner of Highway 6 and Sligo Road.

The rectory was built in 1880 and was converted into a convent housing the Sisters of Saint Joseph, though it was demolished in 2002 to create enough space for their new parish facilities.