East Hill

View north from the marker. To the south, the direction the marker is addressing, the view is totally obstructed by an old brick warehouse that has been converted to apartments.

This illustration shows the two houses that stood together on East Hill, known as Bollingbrook. There is some conflicting information as to the date of origin on these structures, but both existed by the 1750s when Robert Bolling III occupied the site. The eastern one may have been built by the Byrd family in the 1720s. Neither building still stands; the eastern one burned down in 1855, the western one served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War but was eventually abandoned and torn down ca. 1925. The hill itself also no longer stands, having been largely graded down in 1958 to accommodate the construction of the Washington Street Interchange on I-95. The 1970 Tri-Cities YMCA building now occupies the site, but at a much lower elevation than Bollingbrook would have been.

The western house of Bollingbrook before demolition. It had been abandoned for some time when this image was created.

This drawing is part of an exhibit at Centre Hill, presumably illustrating the western half of Bollingbrook shown in the previous image.

From the basement exhibit at the Bolling family's only surviving mansion in Petersburg, Centre Hill.

Further information on East Hill, also from the basement exhibit at Centre Hill.

The yellow square shows the three hills the Bollings built upon to overlook their warehouses and trading center along the river. The site of East Hill is indicated by the blue arrow. Note the elevation curve showing the hill. This is from a 1954 USGS topographical map, created about four years prior to the hill's destruction. The curves showing Centre Hill and West Hill (the latter being where the Courthouse stands) are apparent to the left of East Hill. When the town of "Bollingbrook" was laid out in 1783 between the original towns of Blandford (east of Lieutenant Run) and Petersburg (west of Sycamore Street, at the time Halifax Road), the basis for the current roads were put in place; the Bollings' trio of hills were bounded by Madison Street to the east, Sycamore Street to the west, Henry Street to the north, and Franklin Street to the south. Adams street divided West Hill from Centre Hill, while Jefferson Street divided Centre Hill from East Hill/Bollingbrook. Tabb street was a later addition to the area. West Hill occupied the area just south of the current Hustings Courthouse, immediately north of Tabb St. Robert Bolling IV provided the land for the courthouse square.

British Maj. Gen. William Phillips died at East Hill shortly after the Battle of Petersburg. He is buried in Blandford Cemetery, about a mile southeast of the marker. His precise grave within the churchyard is unknown, this monument is a general commemoration.