Know Before You Go
Accessible from B,D Trains at Kingsbridge Road Station
When Poe lived in this cottage, with a rent of $100 a year, the Bronx was a rural area. It’s an area starkly different area from what was originally rolling hills, countryside, and farmland but can still be visited by those interested in Edgar Allen Poe and his work, including famous poems such as “The Raven.”
Poe’s wife, Virginia Poe, had tuberculosis. By moving here, Poe had hoped to ensure she had plenty of fresh air, since in the 1800s it was believed that copious light and fresh air could cure people of the disease. This area of the Bronx was rural before New York City became urbanized and was extensively developed. There are only a few original items inside the cottage, including a mirror, the bed Virginia Poe died in, along with Edgar Allen Poe’s rocking chair.
Only a few years after his wife’s death, Poe moved to Baltimore, and he died there in poverty in 1849, even though many of his writings were acclaimed, he was little-known.
The site where Poe wrote “Annabel Lee” and “Ulalume” had to be moved to its current location, across the street, in 1913, after the cottage was threatened by demolition. Today, the circa-1812 cottage has been extensively restored to its original condition.
Contributed by
Oliver Hong
Edited by
