Welcome to Forest Lake ...

The city of Forest Lake is located in Washington County<1>.

The location of Forest Lake has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

Forest Lake was established in 1874.

A typical abbreviation for Forest Lake: Forest Lk.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Forest Lake has a population of 20,946 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Forest Lake is 930 feet [283 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Forest Lake lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Forest Lake: (651)

The ZIP code for Forest Lake: 55025<5>

Websites for Forest Lake ...

Official Website:   www.ci.forest-lake.mn.us/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.flacc.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Forest Lake had an population of 20,946 people. This is an increase of 13.99% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 208.12% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Forest Lake had a population of 18,375 people (or 7.69% of the total population of Washington County). This makes Forest Lake the county's 4th most populous community.

The population of Forest Lake represents 0.35% of the population of Minnesota (which has 5,303,925 people), making it the state's 59th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 18,375 people, the population of Forest Lake increased 170.3% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 6,798 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Forest Lake.

Communities Also Named Forest Lake ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 17 communities that are also named Forest Lake - they are located in Alabama, California (2), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina (4) and Texas.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Forest Lake.

Communities near Forest Lake ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Forest Lake.

• Blaine
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blaine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
  • Blaine is located in Anoka County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 66,697 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blaine <6>
• Coon Rapids
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coon Rapids
  • Coon Rapids is located in Anoka County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,935 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coon Rapids <6>
• Maplewood
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Maplewood is located in Ramsey County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,653 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maplewood <6>
• Roseville
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
  • Roseville is located in Ramsey County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 36,178 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseville <6>
• Andover
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
  • Andover is located in Anoka County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,448 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andover <6>
• Fridley
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridley
  • Fridley is located in Anoka County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,857 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fridley <6>
• Oakdale
  (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
  • Oakdale is located in Washington County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,773 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <6>
• Shoreview
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shoreview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoreview
  • Shoreview is located in Ramsey County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,092 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shoreview <6>
• White Bear Lake
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Bear Lake
  • White Bear Lake is located in Ramsey County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,495 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Bear Lake <6>
• New Brighton
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Brighton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Brighton
  • New Brighton is located in Ramsey County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,793 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Brighton <6>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Forest Lake. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Forest Lake.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Forest Lake. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Lake.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Lake. Our list includes 5 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Forest Lake.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Forest Lake ...

Looking for more information about Forest Lake? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Forest Lake, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Forest Lake.

Adding Forest Lake to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Forest Lake in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Forest Lake was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Forest Lake post office opened in 1869.

We also found Forest Lake in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Forest Lake.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Forest Lake: www.ci.forest-lake.mn.us/

The official website for Washington County: www.co.washington.mn.us/

The official website for State of Minnesota: https://mn.gov/