For the traveler seeking a bite of history, Richmond, is a veritable banquet. And literary lovers will find their own form of tell-tale tourism tracing the roots of Edgar Allan Poe, who became a resident of the River City when he was adopted by the Allan family following his mother’s death. From a young age, Poe embraced his new home fiercely, falling in (and out of) love, beginning his writing career, and leaving a lasting legacy worth exploring — especially as autumn takes hold of the city.
Although his childhood homes are no longer standing, Richmond has several locations where Poe’s imprint can still be felt and celebrated, including the Linden Row Inn.
The Linden Row Inn is a wonderful marriage of historic construction and modern amenities that makes for a one-of-a-kind Richmond hospitality experience, right in the heart of downtown
Poe spent much of his childhood playing in the gardens owned by Charles Ellis, a business partner of his adoptive father. In the mid-1800s, most of the garden was replaced by the eight Greek revival row houses that form the historic hotel, which was officially restored and converted to a full-service, 70-room inn in the 1980s. With spacious suites furnished by the historical society, the Linden Row Inn is now a wonderful marriage of historic construction and modern amenities that makes for a one-of-a-kind Richmond hospitality experience, right in the heart of downtown.
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Linden Row Inn
For Sales Manager Alexa Kirkpatrick, who has worked at the Linden Row Inn for nearly a decade, the best part of the job is recounting the many stories held within the walls. “This hotel just has a lot of character, and everywhere you look, you can find something.”
A Poe suite, named after the writer, is complete with a vintage library, original wood floors, and an intricate antique chandelier.
There’s even a suite named after Poe, complete with a vintage library, original wood floors, and an intricate antique chandelier; a friendly black cat, named Annabel Lee after Kirkpatrick’s favorite Poe poem, who loves to join tours and visit guests.
A friendly black cat, named Annabel Lee after the well-known Poe poem, loves to visit guests staying at Linden Row Inn.
And there's the garden courtyard where Poe courted Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton as a teen — and where couples can host a wedding of their own beneath the same massive Linden tree (the only one remaining on the property) that Poe played under as a child.
The garden courtyard is where Poe courted Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton as a teen — and where couples can host a wedding of their own beneath the same massive Linden tree (the only one remaining on the property) that Poe played under as a child.
But nowhere in the city breathes with Poe’s spirit quite like the Poe Museum, where expertly managed grounds highlight the flora mentioned throughout Poe’s work. “He loved nature,” says Curator Chris Semtner, a local Poe expert who has spent more than two decades sharing his love of the writer with the city and beyond. “He said the landscape garden was an art form where God and man worked together.”
The museum has honored Poe's love of nature in the Enchanted Garden, where rose bushes wrap around a courtyard lined with bricks salvaged from the building that once housed the Southern Literary Messenger, the magazine where Poe worked.
The museum has honored that in the Enchanted Garden, where rose bushes wrap around a courtyard lined with bricks salvaged from the building that once housed the Southern Literary Messenger, the magazine where Poe worked. As fall descends, the dogwoods and camellias prep their blossoms for spring, and worn brick ledges drip with the same English ivy found a few miles away around Poe’s mother’s grave at historic St. John’s Church. The resident cats, Edgar and Tib, often make themselves known in the garden, which has become another popular location for small weddings in the city.
With a collection of items surpassing 4,000, the museum has no shortage of Poe-related artifacts to display. Rooms are curated throughout three distinct buildings, including the Old Stone House, the oldest standing residence in downtown Richmond, dating to 1754.
Rooms are curated throughout three distinct buildings at the Poe Museum, including the Old Stone House, the oldest standing residence in downtown Richmond, dating to 1754.
One building even includes a staircase salvaged directly from Poe’s childhood home at 14th Street and Tobacco Alley, with history resonating in every creak of the wood. “I like to imagine a little Eddie running up and down those stairs,” Semtner says with fondness.
While vintage copies of Poe’s work and famous daguerreotypes are always crowd favorites at the Poe Museum, it’s the everyday items that give visitors a taste of who the writer was beyond the page.
While vintage copies of Poe’s work and famous daguerreotypes are always crowd favorites, it’s the everyday items in the museum that Semtner says really give visitors a taste of who the writer was beyond the page. “Poe was this excellent dancer,” Semtner says while showing off a pair of worn dancing shoes. “It’s not the Poe you usually think about.” Although his artistic persona has become inextricably linked with the macabre and morbid, the man was much more than that, and Semtner loves to highlight him not just as an incredibly influential artist, but as “somebody who loved to party” — which is exactly why Poe’s Pub should be on any literary explorer’s docket.
Music, drinks, vibes: Poe’s Pub is saturated with elements Poe would have loved. Although the restaurant itself holds no direct connection to the writer, this Richmond staple, family owned for more than 30 years, highlights the literary figure with signature cocktails and creatively named menu items, such as the Fried Oyster Poe-Boy and Poe’s Practically Famous Meatloaf (doused in a Guinness demi-glace, of course). Raven décor is abundant, and a weekly slate of live music keeps locals entertained with drink in hand, as Poe would have done.
As the fall foliage begins to turn, one of the best views of the James is found at Hollywood Cemetery.
Any trip to the River City is not complete until you’ve seen, well, the river. And as the fall foliage begins to turn, one of the best views of the James is found at Hollywood Cemetery. But before it was the iconic cemetery it is today, the land was known as Harvie’s Woods. “That was Poe’s playground,” Semtner says.
Hollywood Cemetery’s Gothic architecture lends itself perfectly to Poe’s stories, romanticizing the fleeting beauty in decay.
The cemetery’s Gothic architecture lends itself perfectly to Poe’s stories, romanticizing the fleeting beauty in decay. Several of Poe’s contemporaries are memorialized in old family plots and intricate tombs, and seasonal tours bring historic mausoleums to life just in time for Halloween — just ignore any beating hearts you hear coming from beneath the floorboards.
