Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe -  macabre, romance, gothic, death.   I have read all his works, but I especially love his poems.  I feel I have a very small connection with him - having been born in Richmond, Virginia and he having such a close association with the city.  I want to one day visit all the historical sites associated with Poe and visit every museum that houses his letters and writings.  During Halloween in 2005, I had the change to begin!

Last Halloween, my husband and I decided to take a trip to explore some Poe sites.  We live in South Carolina, so it was a road trip.  First, we went to Baltimore, where we went to see his grave.  The grave is located in the Westminster Hall church yard in the middle of downtown.  There are two graves - one that marks his original burial site and the other just inside the gates where Poe, his wife/cousin and his mother-in-law/aunt are also buried.   When we went to see the original burial site, there was actually a bottle of Cognac there. The story goes that on his birthday, a mysterious man leaves a bottle of Cognac and three red roses on his grave.   There was a also a wino hanging around - probably goes there and drinks the Cognac that Poe fans leave.  My husband, E took many photos of me, the grave, and anything else I wanted.  Besides the church itself, the other four corners of the block where part of the Law Library of the University of Maryland.

Then we headed to the Baltimore Poe House and Museum.   It is now a part of the housing projects of Baltimore.  The house was originally a stand alone house and when they built the housing projects, they saved this house and built the housing right up next to his house.  Poe lived in this house while in Baltimore from 1833-1835.  That is his house on the very corner with the white door.

My husband snapped this picture of me - I had just noticed that there was a historical plaque that I hadn't read, so I want running back over to read it.   The house contains some actual artifacts owned by Poe and you can actually go into the third floor bedroom which they believe was where Poe slept.  There is a very small (height and wide) winding stairway up to the bedroom.

After visiting here, we then attempted to find a statue of Poe that I had read about.   Now I must say that my husband and I had a time finding this.  In fact, the frustration led to me just wanting to forget about it.   But my husband being the person that he is, knew that I would regret not finding this status.  So even though I had given up, he found Mr. Poe for me.  It was in a business district in a courtyard for a bank or something.

The last Poe site in Baltimore was the site where he died.  After being found in the streets of Baltimore incoherent, he was taken to the hospital where he died several days later.

Poe In Richmond

This is Poe's museum in Richmond, Virginia.  This was our next stop of the Poe adventure.  Although Poe never lived here, it was a building that was standing during the time he was in Richmond. Poe had many connections to Richmond.  His mother was killed in a fire and is buried in a local churchyard.   After his mother died, a rich Richmond business man (Mr. Allan)  took care of Poe.   He lived here off and on during his lifetime. This museum houses the largest collection of Poe items.  And many items were salvaged from his residences in Richmond and used in additions to this museum itself.  Although it looks like just a small cottage from the front, there are several other buildings behind this and a beautiful, large garden courtyard.

This is a view from the back of the museum, of Poe's garden.  It was inspired from one of his poems.  On the right is a brick wall that divides the garden from several other buildings housing more Poe treasures.  The bricks came from a building where he worked in Richmond.  On the top of the wall are broken bottles that were built into the wall. inspired by his time in an English boarding school.  At the far end of the garden is a little Poe Shrine.

This is the inside of the Poe Shrine at the end of the garden.  It holds a replica of a Poe bust.  The original (and more valuable) bust is housed in one of the other buildings.   It used to be here until a local Poe fan climbed the wall late one night and "borrowed" the statue.  He took it to a local pub in Richmond and ordered two cognacs.  After drinking his, the borrower left the statue at the bar.  Luckily, the owners called the museum and Poe was returned home, but this time to a more secure area.

Here is a view looking towards the museum.

More Poe adventures to come...

This is the burial place of Edgar, his wife Virginia, and his mother-in-law Mrs. Clemm.