Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Oak Forest, IL

Oak Forest is a city in Bremen Township, Cook County, about 24 miles south-southwest of downtown Chicago, ringed by Cook County Forest Preserves.

The area was originally called Cooper's Grove, after the Cooper family, who settled there in the 1830s and were among the first residents of the township.

Oak Forest began as a railroad whistle stop and milk stop on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad near 159th Street and Cicero Avenue, serving Bremen Township dairy farmers; an 1893 railroad timetable carries the earliest known reference to the name 'Oak Forest,' a nod to the area's mature oak trees.

Oak Forest incorporated as a village in 1947, became the City of Oak Forest in 1971, and has operated as a home rule community since 1981.

The community grew up around Cook County's Oak Forest Hospital: the county chose the site for a poor farm and infirmary in 1907, the Oak Forest Infirmary opened in 1910 housing close to 2,000 people, and the County Board voted in 2011 to close the 600-bed hospital.

Oak Forest's population peaked at 28,210 in 2000, and the 2020 census counted 27,478 residents.

Census Bureau figures count about 10,350 households in Oak Forest, averaging about 2.6 people each.

Oak Forest High School, which opened in 1971 and is home of the Bengals, is one of four high schools in Bremen Community High School District 228.

The George W. Dunne National Golf Course, a Cook County Forest Preserve course along Central Avenue, is widely regarded as one of the best public golf courses in the country.

The Oak Forest Park District maintains 19 parks and a full-service health and fitness center, and Central Avenue functions as the city's main street, lined with City Hall, the Acorn Public Library and the high school.