Lack of fire and increasingly wet conditions in eastern North America are thought to interact in a way that depresses the recruitment of fire-adapted species like Quercus and Carya while promoting the growth and recruitment of mesophytic species like Acer. This process, referred to as forest mesophication, has tended to focus on the consequences for Quercus with more limited attention on Carya. Additionally, forest mesophication has the potential to alter traditional forest community and topographic relationships as environmental conditions continue to shift. This study questioned if Carya populations have responded to forest mesophication over the last 38 yr. Also, this study questioned if long-term changes in forest composition maintained traditional aspect-species relationships in response to forest mesophication. In Athens County, Ohio, forest surveys of Carya and associated overstory, midstory, sapling, and seedling vegetation were conducted in 1983 and 2021. Survey results from 1983 and 2021 were analyzed to determine shifts in Carya population structure and shifts in forest community composition and diversity. Carya populations decreased by approximately 50% since the original 1983 survey across all species, topographic positions, and aspects. Current populations are composed of mostly large individuals with little evidence of recruitment over the last several decades. The midstory and sapling forest layers have experienced decreases in species diversity, mostly through increases in Acer and Fagus grandifolia Ehrh., and decreases in Quercus and Carya. Species compositions from the sapling and seeding layers retained aspect differences and reflected overstory species compositions. The midstory and overstory layers have experienced shifts in species composition over time with the midstory layer no longer retaining topographic and aspect relationships with species composition. Changes in forest composition may be trending towards a loss in topographic distinction in species composition for forest communities in the region. Carya populations appear unlikely to remain a significant portion of the forest community given the observed lack of recruitment into larger size classes past the sapling stage. Long-term changes in forest composition, due in large part to mesophication, are becoming evident and have the potential to drastically alter forest composition in the very near future without direct intervention.