This area contains exhibits, an audio-visual program and a small sales facility. Ranger-guided tours of the Poe House begin here. Groups should contact the Park in advance of their visit. Although picnicking is allowed on the grounds, there are no indoor picnic facilities. The Park is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Christmas and New Year's Day.
Admission is free.
THE LIFE OF A POET Edgar Poe was born to itinerant actors in Boston in 1809. His mother, Elizabeth Poe, died when Edgar was two, by which time his father, David Poe, was no longer with them. He was raised as a foster child by Frances Allan and her husband John Allan, a tobacco exporter of Richmond. Poe spent his youth between the ages of six and eleven with the Allan's in England where he attended boarding school. Returning to Richmond, Poe later enrolled for a year at the University of Virginia.