The Poe House

The Poe house describes late 19th and early 20th century culture, family and social history.   The Poe House was built in 1896 by Ruffin Vaughn, a noted architect for Mr. Poe.   This house is on the Hay Street downtown. The land which the house was built on was part of the U.S. Arsenal destroyed by General Sherman during his march at the end of the civil war.   The house was later sold to Josephine Poe in 1897 and moved in with her family the same year.   The absolute location of the house is 35 °N and 78°W and relative location is that it is near the Market House.
Josephine Poe, from Wake County, was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe.   There has been a lot of confusion with the writer Edgar Allan Poe, but E.A. Poe was a successful business man, a civic leader, and politician.   He owned a brickyard which supplied the bricks to number of buildings in town, some of which are still standing today.   Even though Mr. Poe made houses of bricks, his house is made of wood.
The two story house includes: a barn, woodhouse, smokehouse, and a well house.   The house also has Eastlake detailing, an entrance bay, exterior work, a wrap-around porch, tongue-and-groove wall and bull’s-eye decoration throughout the inside.
There are a number of things inside the home that are original to the family and the house.   Some of items in the house are representative to the year 1897 to 1917, a period of tremendous change in America like: the combination of gas, electric light equipments found throughout the house.   Furniture items include the piano and stool in the parlor; the sofa, chairs, and secretary in the sitting room: the sewing machine in the master bedroom; and the dining room table, chairs, and sideboard.   There are number of smaller pieces throughout the house.   There is also an original writing sample from one of the daughters.   There are also a number of oil paintings in the house that were painted by Elizabeth Winslow Poe, Mr. and Mrs. Poe’s daughter, in her college days (1910-1912)....