Fort Boreman Hill, a prominence of almost 250 acres, used only a small portion of its height for Fort Boreman itself, including gun stations, a powder magazine, and winter quarters. Its natural features, panoramic views, and commanding position above the Ohio and Little Kanawha Rivers drew military forces there during the Civil War and had earlier encouraged Indians to establish camps on the hill. About one-half mile to the east, on a ridge overlooking South Parkersburg, Parkersburg built the Pest House in 1867 to quarantine victims of smallpox and other contagious diseases; the two-story building became known locally as the house of doom, and many who died there were buried in the nearby pest house cemetery. Near the entry road stood the site of the 1867 hangings of Daniel Grogan, Thomas Boice, and Mortimer Gibbony, who were convicted of murdering Abram Deem, a respected Wood County farmer and Confederate sympathizer; despite local lore about a hanging tree, they were executed from a scaffold. In 1893 Gustavus Fries created a public park on a knoll on the hill's western side, with tenpin bowling lanes, a dance hall, a concession stand, and picnic areas, and Fries Park also hosted musical concerts and prize fights before remaining active into the 1940s.