To attract passengers to the countryside, the Rhodes residence was converted into a trolley terminus, complete with wrap-around porch and belfry, and an elaborate turn-of-the-20th-century amusement park was built on the grounds, complete with carousel, roller coaster, fun house, dance hall, penny arcade, and golf course, as well as bath house, swimming area, and boat lake in the former quarry pond.

When the land was deeded to the City of Richmond in 1933, the wooden amusement structures were demolished to convert the dilapidated estate into a landscaped urban park.

The Rhodes home was renovated to serve as a community library and meeting house, and the wooded ravine that once held a quarry pond and boating lake returned to its natural state.

From the 1970s until the present, due to extensive development upstream along Reedy Creek, storm sediment turned the park's pond into a de facto wetland and wildlife refuge, attracting animals rarely found in city parks – including bald eagle, river otter, and great blue heron.

Various improvements to the once neglected park are continuing for 2010, including the creation of a new trails network and the construction of a new pedestrian bridge over Reedy Creek.