Edgar Allan Poe Cottage

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Poe Cottage
nrhp=yes


caption =
location= 2640 Grand Concourse, Fordham, Bronx, NY, USA
lat_degrees = 40
lat_minutes = 51
lat_seconds = 55
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73
long_minutes = 53
long_seconds = 40
long_direction = W
locmapin = New York
area =
built =1812
architect= John Wheeler
architecture=
added = August 19, 1980Cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/iwisapi/explorer.dll?IWS_SCHEMA=NRIS1&IWS_LOGIN=1&IWS_REPORT=100000044|title=Index by State and Name|accessdate=2008-03-23|author=National Parks Service|work=National Register Information System]
governing_body = Local
refnum=80002588cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, sometimes called simply Poe Cottage, is the former home of American writer Edgar Allan Poe located on Kingsbridge Road in the Fordham section of The Bronx, New York and is now part of Poe Park.

The cottage is a part of the Historic House Trust, listed on the National Register of Historic Places,cite book | title=Poems & Tales of Edgar Allan Poe at Fordham| last=Poe| first=Edgar Allan | authorlink=Edgar Allan Poe| pages=x| publisher=Bronx Historical Society| id=ISBN 0941980391] has been administered by the Bronx County Historical Society since 1975,Cite web|url=http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/poecottage.html|title=The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage|accessdate=2008-03-17|publisher=The Bronx County Historical Society] and is believed to have been built in 1797.

History

Poe family years

The Poe family—which included Edgar, his wife Virginia Clemm, and her mother Maria—moved in around May 1846Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar Allan Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 301. ISBN 0060923318] after living for a short time in Turtle Bay, Manhattan.Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 193. ISBN 0815410387.] At the time, Fordham was very rural and was only recently connected to the city by rail. The cottage, which then was at the corner of 192nd Street and Kingsbridge Road, was small and simple: it had on its first floor a sitting room and kitchen and its unheated second floor had a bedroom and Poe's study. On the front porch the family kept caged songbirds. The home sat on two acres of land and Poe paid either $5 rent per month or $100 per year.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E1DF103AF93BA25750C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=Streetscapes/Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse in the Bronx|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=2001-03-18|author=Christopher Gray|work=The New York Times] Its owner, John Valentine, had bought it from a man named Richard Corsa on March 28, 1846,Quinn, Arthur Hobson. "Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography". Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998: 507. ISBN 0801857309.] for $1000.Phillips, Mary E. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man". Volume II. Chicago: The John C. Winston Co., 1926: 1115.]

The family seemed to enjoy the home, despite its small size and minimal furnishings. "The cottage is very humble", a visitor said, "you wouldn't have thought decent people could have lived in it; but there was an air of refinement about everything." [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar Allan Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 302. ISBN 0060923318] A friend of Poe's years later wrote: "The cottage had an air of taste and gentility... So neat, so poor, so unfurnished, and yet so charming a dwelling I never saw." [Quinn, Arthur Hobson. "Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography". Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998: 508–509. ISBN 0801857309.] In a letter to a friend, Poe himself wrote: "The place is a beautiful one." Maria wrote years later: "It was the sweetest little cottage imaginable. Oh, how supremely happy we were in our dear cottage home!" [Phillips, Mary E. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man". Volume II. Chicago: The John C. Winston Co., 1926: 1116–1117.] Poe's final short story, "Landor's Cottage", was likely inspired by the home.

In this home, Poe wrote his well-known poems "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume" while the family cat sat on his shoulder. [Phillips, Mary E. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man". Volume II. Chicago: The John C. Winston Co., 1926: 1117.] During his time here, he also published his series on "The Literati of New York City", controversial gossip-like discussions of literary figures and their work, including Nathaniel Parker Willis, Charles Frederick Briggs, Thomas Dunn English, Margaret Fuller, and Lewis Gaylord Clark. As their publisher Louis Antoine Godey announced in his "Lady's Book", they would soon "raise some commotion in the literary emporium." [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 194–195. ISBN 0815410387.]

The Poe family befriended their neighbors, including the family of John Valentine, and Poe even served as a sponsor for baptism for one of the local boys who was named "Edgar Albert". [Phillips, Mary E. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man". Volume II. Chicago: The John C. Winston Co., 1926: 1119–1121.] Poe also became friendly with the faculty at what was then St. John's College, now Fordham University. [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar Allan Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 302. ISBN 0060923318] He found the faculty to be "highly cultivated gentleman and scholars [who] smoked, drank, and played cards like gentleman, and never said a word about religion." [Phillips, Mary E. "Edgar Allan Poe: The Man". Volume II. Chicago: The John C. Winston Co., 1926: 1266.]

During the Poe family's time in the cottage, Virginia struggled with tuberculosis. Family friend Mary Gove Nicholls wrote: "One felt that she was almost a disrobed spirit, and when she coughed it was made certain that she was rapidly passing away." [Quinn, Arthur Hobson. "Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography". Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998: 508. ISBN 0801857309.] Virginia died in the cottage's first floor bedroom on January 30, 1847. She was buried in the vault of the Valentine family on February 2. [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar Allan Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 326–327. ISBN 0060923318] Poe died a couple years later on October 7, 1849 while in Baltimore. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 255. ISBN 0815410387.] At Fordham, Maria did not hear of his death until October 9, after he was already buried. Shortly thereafter, she moved out of the cottage to live with a family in Brooklyn for a time. [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar Allan Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". New York: Harper Perennial, 1991: 438–439. ISBN 0060923318]

After Poe

The cottage's immediate use following the Poe family is uncertain, however it was reported to be occupied by an 'old southern lady'.The cottage was sold at auction in 1889 for $775 to William Fearing Gill in the first step of preservationCite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940CEFDA123AE033A2575AC1A9629C94689FD7CF|title=Edgar Allan Poe's Cottage|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1889-04-19|work=The New York Times] after the Parks Department found it to be too expensive of a proposition with rent approximately four times what Poe paid. Gill would later become Poe's first American biographer. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 263. ISBN 0815410387.] In 1895, the New York Shakespeare Society purchased the Cottage for use as a headquarters with the promise that it would be maintained in the condition in which Poe used it,Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0CEFDA103DE433A2575BC1A9619C94649ED7CF|title=No Contracts Awarded|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1895-07-18|work=The New York Times] however concerns about any move of the cottage sprung up almost immediately.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0DE3D6143BEE33A25754C2A9629C94679ED7CF|title=Editorial Article 2|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1896-04-27|work=The New York Times] Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9506E2DF1331E033A25757C2A9629C94679ED7CF|title=To Remove Poe's Cottage; Opponents of the Plan Heard by Mayor Strong|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1896-04-24|work=The New York Times] In 1905, it was announced that $100,000 had been authorized by the New York State Legislature for the restoration of the cottage and creation of a park in which to house the cottage after the owners were reported to be denying visitors access to the cottage.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05EED81030E733A25753C2A96E9C946497D6CF|title=Where Poe Wrote 'The Raven'|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1905-08-20|work=The New York Times] The restoration and park creation were not without complaint, and many felt the money would be better spent on other ventures and further that the cottage's authenticity would be lost if it were to be moved. The decision to move was finally made in 1910 and on November 13, 1913, Poe Cottage in Poe Park was dedicated at the corner of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. In 1922, further reconstruction was undertaken by the New York Historical Society to restore the cottage to its original condition.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02EFDF1E3CE533A2575AC1A9649C946395D6CF|title=Restoring Poe Cottage|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1922-02-19|work=The New York Times]

Recent history

In 1962, Poe's Cottage was designated a landmark in The Bronx,Cite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00A15F63B5A117B93CAAB1782D85F468685F9|title=First Phase of Long-Range Project to Mark City's Notable Structures is Completed|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1962-09-28|work=The New York Times] and in 1966 it was recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation CommissionCite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50F1FFD345D1B7A93CAA91788D85F428685F9|title=Poe's Cottage Made Landmark|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1966-03-08|work=The New York Times] In 1974, vandals struck again, leading to further criticism of the Cottage's management and preservation efforts. Cite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C13FC3E5C177589DDAA0894DC405B848BF1D3|title=Poe Devotees Are Gloomy Over Losses and Vandalism at his Cottage in the Bronx|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1974-04-03|author=Eric Pace|work=The New York Times] Vandalism continued to occur over the next few years,Cite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10914FC385D13778DDDAC0894DE405B878BF1D3|title=No Pits in Poe Home, Keeper Says|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1977-06-05|work=The New York Times] though it tapered off by the end of the following decade, becoming less of a riskCite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DF1F3FF93AA35757C0A96F948260|title=Crimes at Historic Sites Reported to be Down|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1989-04-09|author=Joan Cook|work=The New York Times] due in part to the increased use of live-in caretakers.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DD1631F930A15756C0A96F958260|title=Making It Work; A Life of Housework|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=1999-05-23|author=Lynn M. Ermann|work=The New York Times]

In 2007 the Visitors Center for the Cottage and Bronx Historical Society in Poe Park was honored by the "New York City Art Commission"'s 2007 Design Awards.Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/arts/design/17bawar.html?pagewanted=all|title=Awards from a Better-Designed City|accessdate=2008-03-17|year=2007-07-17|work=The New York Times]

ee also

*Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia
*Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland
*Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

References

External links

* [http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/poecottage.html Bronx Historical Society: Edgar Allan Poe Cottage]
* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=6294 NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation: Edgar Allan Poe Cottage]