Poe Cottage – Where Virginia Died

New York · United States · House

In the little white cottage in the Bronx, Poe's young wife Virginia died of consumption wrapped in his old army coat – visitors see a woman in white in the chamber where the bed still stands.

In the spring of 1846, Edgar Allan Poe moved to a small white workman's cottage in the village of Fordham, hoping country air would save his tubercular wife – his cousin Virginia, whom he had married when she was thirteen. It did not. In January 1847 she died in the cottage's cold chamber, aged 24, warmed only by her husband's old military coat and the tortoiseshell cat Catterina, while Poe sank deeper into grief and drink. Here he wrote "Annabel Lee" and "The Bells" – laments for her. The cottage, moved a stone's throw and preserved as a museum on the Grand Concourse, still holds the bed she died in. Staff and visitors describe a slight woman in white near the bedchamber, sudden drops in temperature, and the sense of someone keeping vigil at the door – Virginia, or the poet who never stopped watching over her.

FAQ

Where is Poe Cottage – Where Virginia Died located?

Poe Cottage – Where Virginia Died is in New York, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.