Captain John Cussons, a native Englishman, confederate scout, author, and entrepreneur married Mrs. Benjamin Allen (after whose family Glen Allen was named). He settled here after the Civil War and established a printing company. In 1881, he built a six story fashionable resort hotel with over 100 elaborately decorated rooms known as Forest Lodge adjacent to the railroad tracts. The resort hotel occupied 1000 acres, which also boasted a hunting preserve, lakes, boathouses, gardens, parklands, and an amphitheater. Forest Lodge was never the success it was hoped it would be, and in later years served first as a boarding house, and later as apartments. The parklands reverted to woods. Forest Lodge was demolished in 1989 due to development plans.
Mr. Wayne Mallory provided pictures and a video of the demolition of historic Forest Lodge for Henrico County archives. He filmed the total demolition of Forest Lodge including the removal of the cupola onto a flat bed truck and the drive down the expanse of Mountain Road. The most moving part of this film is at the end. Mr. Mallory shows in sad silence the pile of rubble that once was this grand hotel, the pride of Glen Allen.
The County of Henrico did not have the demolition of Forest Lodge recorded and were thrilled with this find. They are now using this information to build a miniature replica of Forest Lodge. The County of Henrico preserved this cupola, which now stands on the corner of Mountain Road and Old Washington Highway in the Brookland district.
- (County of Henrico)
- (November 2003 HCHS newsletter)
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