Forest City

Town of Forest City

For small-town Western North Carolina, Forest City offers some big attractions: half a million lights downtown at Christmastime, among the largest car shows in the Southeast, one of few car museums in Western North Carolina and summer collegiate baseball in North Carolina.

History

Forest City was one of the North Carolina mill towns. A 200,000-square-foot former cotton mill that dates to the late 1800s on Main Street is being refurbished for residential and retail use that will include textile mill condos.

There's history on wheels, too. One of the newest car museums in North Carolina is Bennett Classics Antique Auto Museum, with a selection that ranges from the Model A era to sports cars of recent decades.

Those interested in agricultural museums in North Carolina will want to visit the Rutherford County Farm Museum, one of the North Carolina farm museums that includes tractors and a still that was used for moonshine.

Activities

The new Forest City Owls team provides high-caliber North Carolina summer baseball in the Coastal Plain League at McNair Field, also a venue for outdoor concerts and festivals. From May through August, the Owls fill the new stadium with fans of summer collegiate baseball in North Carolina.

For fans of North Carolina car shows, the annual Hot Nights, Cool Rides event in August fills Forest City's streets with hundreds of participating autos that glitter and gleam. The Forest City car show is one of the biggest car shows in the Southeast.

Christmas in Forest City

Brighten your holiday with a visit to Forest City to see an extensive display of Christmas lights in North Carolina. Half a million decorative lights downtown provide a warm setting for shopping, chats with Saint Nick at the Santa House on Main Street and other holiday activities. The Christmas lights in Forest City also illuminate the popular carriage rides along Main Street in December. Eighteen horse-drawn carriages let you enjoy the sights in elegance, one of the few opportunities for Western North Carolina carriage rides.

When the holidays stir your hunger, take your pick from the Daily Grind coffee shop, Village Coffee, Big Dave's Family Seafood, Bangkok Delight and other restaurants. Accommodations in town include friendly and familiar chains such as the Jameson Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Inn.