Celebrate Edgar Allan Poe's 216th birthday at his cottage in the Bronx on Sunday, January 19. In honor of the late poet's birthday, get free admission on Sunday into the cottage he called home during the 1840s. Find it at 2640 Grand Concourse in the Fordham section of the Bronx.
The party runs from 1 to 5pm, and you can hear readings and performances throughout the day. At 2pm, Time Out's own Things to Do Editor Rossilynne Culgan will read an excerpt about Poe from her new book and share some of her favorite Poe poetry! While you listen to Poe's lyrical phrasing, explore the rooms he lived in and wrote in centuries ago.
Though Poe lived a nomadic lifestyle in the 1800s, he settled in the Bronx with his ailing wife, Virginia, in 1846. With Virginia suffering from tuberculosis, it was thought that the clean air of Fordham could help her; sadly she died in the cottage in 1847.
During the couple's time at the home, they kept caged songbirds on the porch, where Poe would pace back and forth looking at the stars. During his time in the Bronx, Poe wrote some of his most famous works, including "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Bells," "Annabel Lee" and "Eureka." Poe died under suspicious—and still mysterious to this day—circumstances in 1849 in Baltimore.
A few pieces in The Bronx's Poe Cottage are believed to be original, including a rocking chair, a mirror and the bed where Virginia died. Now, the historic home also features exhibits and artifacts exploring Poe's life.