The Edgar Allan Poe Museum
1914 East Main Street
March 2017
Though Poe never lived in the building, the museum serves to commemorate his time living in Richmond. The museum holds one of the world’s largest collections of original manuscripts, letters, first editions, memorabilia and personal belongings. The museum also provides an overview of early 19th century Richmond, where Poe lived and worked.
The museum is just a few blocks from the James River and is an excellent jumping off spot for the Canal Walk.
First proposed by John Marshall in 1812 to connect the tidewaters of the James River with the navigable stretches of the Ohio River, the Kanawha canal required the back breaking effort of thousands of laborers. In 1837 there were as many as 3300 men, the majority of which were white Irish immigrants working on the canal. The summer of 1838 had such high temperatures that many of the Irish laborers died of hypothermia. They were replaced by slaves that worked not only through the grueling summer, but through horrible winters as well.
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Captain Christopher Newport arrived in Virginia on May 24, 1607 where he planted a cross in honor of King James I. In 1907 the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities erected this cross on the tercentenary of Newport’s visit. It was moved to this location in 2000.
The Slave Trail begins at the Manchester Docks which operated as a major port in the slave trade making Richmond the largest source of enslaved blacks on the east coast from 1830 to 1860. The trail follows the footsteps of those who remained in Richmond and who crossed the James River, often chained together. The trail then follows a route through the slave markets and auction houses of Richmond. It continues past Lumpkin’s Slave Jail and then past the African Burial Ground and the First African Baptist Church.
Walking through the abandoned portion of the hydroelectric plant.
Stone arches supporting bridges that cross the Haxall canal.
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Stretching one-and-one-quarter-miles along the James River and the Kanawha and Haxall canals, the Canal Walk has access points at nearly every block between 5th and 17th streets. There are handicapped-accessible entrances at 5th, 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th streets.