It began as a trolleycar neighborhood in the early 1900s and was built up along the James River beside Forest Hill Park.

Woodland Heights is listed on the National Register of Historic Places[3] and the Virginia Landmarks Registry.

Woodland Heights was first advertised in 1891 as a luxury riverside retreat with proximity to downtown Richmond and Forest Hill Park.

At this time, the "South Bank" of the James River was still mainly farms and woodlands along Old Manchester's western edge.

Many subsequent homes built in Woodland Heights were of the American Four Square design from the Sears Roebuck catalog.