Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond

The Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia--not to be confused with the Baltimore Poe Museum and House--is a quirky collection of artifacts presented in a set of buildings described as the oldest house still standing in Richmond, built in 1737.  According to the information on the website, the museum holds the largest collection of Poe artifacts and memorabilia.  The property, alas, was never inhabited by Poe himself, who moved from Boston to Richmond when he was orphaned at the age of three and maintained his connection with the city throughout his life.

The entrance to the museum is the main room of a small house, and it doubles as a gift shop offering books and vintage-style items.  Visitors can take a picture with a cardboard stand-up of Poe here, and then step into an adjoining room with a few artifacts from Poe's young adulthood.

The visit continues out the back door of the first room into a courtyard linked to the other buildings.  One houses material on Poe's younger years, with a timeline displayed over a diorama of the City of Richmond in Poe's day, a re-creation of his childhood bedroom, and information on his family.  The lighting is a little dark, and some of the displays are a little hard to view in the cases provided, but the setting is perhaps appropriate for the topic.  Visitors are provided with a menu-style guide and map, which I found to be a helpful alternative to the usual paper brochure that is folded and unfolded, then discarded after the visit.  The guides are returned at the end of the visit.  No pictures are allowed inside the buildings of the museum, but I wanted to have a reminder of the information in the guide, so I photographed it outside.

The upstairs section of the Exhibit Building seems to be used for meetings and discussion groups and for displaying rotating galleries of Poe-related artwork in the Raven  Room.   When we visited in Spring of 2012, the artist featured was James Carling (1857-87), a pavement artist from Liverpool whose illustrations of "The Raven" resembled modern graphic novel artists' work.  According to the website, Carling's 43 drawing will remain on display until July of 2012.

After visiting the galleries, we stayed for quite a while in the courtyard.  The weather was nice--just finishing a light rain--and benches are provided, making for an enjoyable, quiet place to rest   We also had a view of Poe's bust at the end of the walk in a sort of altar-like structure.

The entire visit took about an hour to an hour and a half.  The museum is near the recently gentrified Shockoe Bottom section of Richmond, so the museum would be a good later afternoon stop before having dinner and going shopping,

From the museum website:

info@poemuseum.org
(804) 648-5523
1-888-21E-APOE

1914-16 E. Main St.
Richmond, VA 23223

Sunday	11:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Self-guided Tours available. Please call ahead for times of guided tours. (Gift shop closes at 4:30 P.M.)
Tuesday - Saturday	10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Self-guided Tours available. Please call ahead for times of guided tours. (Gift shop closes at 4:30 P.M.)
Monday	Closed

Admission
Adults	$6.00
Senior Citizens	$5.00
Students	$5.00