Forest City, North Carolina, United States

🇺🇸 Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney", is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest municipality in Rutherford County.

History The Alexander Manufacturing Company Mill Village Historic District, Cool Springs High School, East Main Street Historic District, Forest City Baptist Church, James Dexter Ledbetter House, Main Street Historic District, T. Max Watson House, and West Main Street Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography Forest City lies along a merged stretch of U.S. Route 221A and U.S. Route 74 Bus. This merged highway widens into a four-lane boulevard as it passes through the town's historic district. The town of Spindale borders Forest City to the west, and the town of Bostic lies just to the northeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21 km²), of which 8.2 square miles (21 km²) are land and 0.04-square-mile (0.10 km²) (0.24%) is water.

In 1999, Alexander Mills merged with and became a part of Forest City.

Attractions Forest City has several museums, including the Rutherford County Farm Museum, the Bennett Classical Auto Museum, and the Carolina Arcade Museum.

Forest City is also home to the Forest City Owls baseball club which is a member of the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer league. The Owls, who play at McNair Field in Forest City, won the CPL championship in 2009 with a record of 51–9, again in 2010 and were ranked as the #1 collegiate summer team in America.

Education The local school district is Rutherford County Schools, which is based in Forest City.

Education: University Isothermal Community College is located close by in Spindale, NC. The tuition ranges from $131.00 to $1,281.00 depending on the number of credit hours. The college provides the Lee L. Powers Service Scholarship to those who reside in Rutherford or Polk Counties and receive in-state tuition which will cover all costs of attending the college.

Economy In 2010, Forest City was selected as the location for a new $450 million data centre for Facebook.

Renovations done to the town in 2019 added Forest City Pavilion on Park Square. The venue was designed by Odom Engineering, PLLC. This was a multimillion-dollar project that was undertaken by the town that attracts tourists and increased the value of surrounding homes.

The Thermal Belt Rail Trail project, a bike and walking trail spanning 13.36 miles, was completed, in part, to develop the town's economy.

The Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and Rutherford County Economic Development partnered to offer an Emergency Small Business Assistance Grant in response to the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. The grant provides a maximum of $2,500 per company.

The total percentage of people aged 16 and older in Forest City that made up the labor force according to the census reported from 2014 to 2018 was 48.7%. The percentage of women recorded in the labor force aged 16 or older was 45.9% from 2014 to 2018 according to information provided by the census. The total number of people that received health care and social assistance receipts/revenue in 2012 ($1,000) was 87,506. The total retail sales reported in 2012 ($1,000) was 403,012.