$1 Million Restoration Brings Poe Cottage Into the Future

Angel Hernandez of the Bronx Historical Society looks out from the porch of Poe Cottage, which is undergoing a million dollar facelift. (Photo by Rochana Rapkins)

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the latest edition of the Norwood News. 

By ROCHANA RAPKINS

When British journalist Mary Grove visited Edgar Allen Poe’s cottage outside the village of Fordham, she described it as cozy and neat, with “floors as white as wheat.” The cottage was situated on a hill, and surrounded by creeks, rivers and farmland.

Today the 198-year-old cottage still stands -- although it’s now a few hundred yards away from its original location -- at the intersection of Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. What was once Millbrook Creek is now Webster Avenue. A stone’s throw away, children play on playground equipment and residents sit on benches in what is now Poe Park.

Ironically, when the Bronx County Historical Society kicked off a million-dollar restoration of the 198-year-old building this year, some local kids literally threw rocks to see if they could shatter the windows.

“You can still see some of the rocks up on the roof,” said Eric Stalzer, vice president of Apple Restoration, the company hired to do the job. “It was a shame.”

(Photo by Rochana Rapkins)

When it is completed in six to eight months, the garden will showcase plants and flowers mentioned in Poe’s works. All of the period furniture -- much of it currently on exhibit at the Museum of Bronx History -- will be returned. Angel Hernandez, and educator with the Historical Society, envisions holding poetry slams and readings of Poe’s work in the evening.

Grand Concourse Honored on 100th Anniversary

In conjunction with Dr. Gary Hermalyn, executive director of the Bronx County Historical Society and Dr. Lloyd Ultan, Bronx Borough Historian, Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano presented a framed copy of the Congressional Resolution celebrating the100th Anniversary of the Grand Concourse to the Bronx County Historical Society. The presentation took place this past Friday at the new Poe Cottage Visitor's Center in Poe Park (Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse). 

“The Grand Concourse has been the symbolic heart of the Bronx since it was completed a century ago,” said Serrano. “The millions of people who have passed through the Bronx – arriving from around the world, working, raising families, growing up – they all look on the Grand Concourse as the preeminent connection in their Bronx community. It has seen wealth come and go, it has seen many famous people, it has been the home to triumphs and great creativity. It is hard to put words to the meaning of this great boulevard.

"As its centennial approached, I could think of no better gesture than to have the U.S. House of Representatives vote to recognize it for all that it is. Over the years they have helped me fund millions of dollars in upgrades for the Grand Concourse, but this would be about paying respect to our great thoroughfare. They agreed and we presented the resolution to the Bronx County Historical Society to keep and display for generations to come. As the Grand Concourse lives on and new generations come and go, we must continue to take time to honor this historic street, which is so much more than just a street, but instead is the heart of a borough.”

Serrano presenting the congressional resolution to the Bronx County Historical Society in front of Poe Cottage on the G.C.