127-0100 Old Stone House (Poe Museum)

For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF

VLR Listing Date 10/16/1973

NRHP Listing Date 11/14/1973

NRHP Reference Number 73002222

This modest dwelling, beset by the workaday clatter of Shockoe Valley, is the capital city’s only remaining colonial-era house. Its enigmatic character has inspired much speculation, some suggesting that the house is of 17th-century origin. Recent dendrochronlology study, however, indicates that the house was built ca. 1754. The uneven spacing of the openings, original hall/parlor plan, and dormered gable roof are features common to mid-18th-century vernacular houses. The earliest documented reference appears in the city land tax book for 1783, which records it as the home of Samuel Ege, a flour inspector. The property was acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1911 and in 1921 became part of a museum complex commemorating Edgar Allan Poe, who spent his youth in Richmond. The museum is operated by the Poe Foundation, Inc.

Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.

Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

Updated: August 10, 2021