Forest Hill Park, known for its "Stone house" called Boscobel, is a popular and historic 105acre urban park in Richmond, Virginia. Starting as a private property, the park has had several owners and uses before its present one, the City of Richmond.HistoryThe first documented owner was William Byrd III (1728–1777), son of William Byrd II (1674–1744), founder of the city of Richmond. Like his father, the younger Byrd owned extensive properties in Richmond along the James (James River (Virginia)), and in 1768 he sought to repay his extensive gambling debts by auctioning off 100 of his lots in a public auction. As a result, some 1730acre between Reedy Creek and Powhite Creek came to be owned by Bernard Markham.Rhodes familyIn 1820, Holden Rhodes a graduate of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, went to Manchester, near Richmond, to tutor the sons of Judge Samuel Taylor. Rhodes eventually studied law and became a noted jurist in the Chesterfield County court systems, as well as a railroad entrepreneur, being one of the first presidents of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, chartered in 1836 and opened in 1838 .After Rhodes married Eliza Anne Cunliffe Heth in 1833, he purchased 103acre, known as “Dunstan’s,” from John N. Dunstan, Jr. Rhodes built his country estate, “Boscobel” some time between 1836 and 1843. The house, now known as the Old Stone House in Forest Hill Park, was constructed of granite that is believed to have been quarried on the property. When Rhodes died in 1857, his estate passed to his nephew and adopted son, Charles H. Rhodes, Jr.
