The First Land Ever Donated for Shelby Was a Gift, Not a Sale

Before James Love ever offered his 150 acres for the town site of Shelby, the very first land given toward creating the town came from William Forbis and his wife, Elizabeth. On June 16, 1841, they made an outright deed of gift for forty acres, stating it was given “for good will and attachment toward the new county measures lately adopted by the Legislature.” This land lay near what is now West Marion Street and the present high school area. The gift could not even be accepted until the county court met two months later, making the Forbis tract the earliest physical contribution to the founding of Shelby.