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is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, with an African-American majority population, and part of the larger postal designation Oxon Hill, MD. Students attend Oxon Hill High School. The town straddles both sides of dual-lane Maryland Route 210 and includes two elementary schools. The population was 2,585 at the 2000 census, a decline from approximately 3,600 in 1960 when households had more children. A few homes (such as on Huron Drive) were built in the 1930s, but most of the town developed in the 1940s and early 1950s, consisting of single-family homes with some streets of duplex homes; the Talbert Drive homes were added in the 1960s. In those days many town residents were scientists (as its first Mayor was) at the adjacent U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, while others were military band musicians.
The Capital Beltway (I-95/495), which was opened in the early 1960s and which includes the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that connects Oxon Hill to Alexandria, Virginia, is directly south of the town. Forest Heights is bordered on the north by the Eastover Shopping Center. Several miles of less affluent areas (see Anacostia. Washington Highlands, and Bellevue) also lie to the north of it. Forest Heights is fortunate to have its own town police, in addition to a Prince George's County police station right at the town limits in the aforementioned Eastover Shopping Center. Rivertowne Shopping Center with a K-Mart and a Home Depot, and a very large public library, are both within a couple of miles of Forest Heights. Forest Heights is bordered on the south by the large new National Harbor conference center and resort, which opened its first phase in April 2008.
After decades of former governmental stability, in the 2000s the town made headlines repeatedly as two of its recent mayors were embroiled in clashes with the town council. One mayor, Joyce Beck was ousted from office after changes to the Town Charter. Her successor, Myles Spires, has recently filed a $15 million dollar lawsuit against the town for malicious prosecution after being cleared of all charges intitiated by the town for misuse of town's funds.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²), all of it land.