The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Called “America’s Shakespeare,” Edgar Allan Poe created or mastered the short story, detective fiction, science fiction, lyric poetry and the horror story. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician.Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry. The Poe Museum provides a retreat into early nineteenth century Richmond where Poe lived and worked. The Poe Museum began in 1921 as the Poe Shrine, the highlight of which was the Enchanted Garden inspired by the gardens described in Poe’s poetry. The Poe Museum’s garden appears much as it did during the 1920s, when it was already a destination for visiting writers from around the globe.  It is from this site that American Heritage Trees worked with the Poe Museum staff to collect seeds and cuttings from the live oak, hackberry, and boxwood trees admired by Edgar Allan Poe.

To learn more about Poe, his works, and see his collected treasures, visit the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA.