History buffs and literary fans alike will love a visit to the uniquely fun Battery Gadsden on Sullivans Island, where you’ll find the Edgar Allan Poe Library inside a renovated old military battery from the Spanish-American War. Let’s check it out:

You won’t find another library anywhere on earth like the Edgar Allan Poe Library on Sullivans Island.

Google Maps/Summer Flores

It’s found right on beachfront property and adjacent to the elementary school.

Google Maps A visit here is filled with swift ocean breezes and palms that wave their fronds gently into the wind.

The library opened in 1977, and is named for famous author and poet, Edgar Allan Poe.

Google Maps/Summer Flores For those who aren’t up on Sullivans Island history, Poe was stationed in the U.S. Army on Sullivans Island from 1827 to 1828.

He then used the island as the backdrop or setting for his famous work, “The Gold Bug.”

Google Maps/Summer Flores Stories about Poe’s time on Sullivans run as wild as the tides on the island, but one thing we know to be true is that Poe never set foot inside the renovated battery that now houses his namesake library.

Utilized during the Spanish-American War as a four-gun battery, the structure came into existence some 70 years after Poe’s time on the island.

TripAdvisor/Hannah R Today, visitors to the library can view the nearly three-feet-thick walls inside the battery’s guts.

Steel doors remain as a reminder of the building’s origin.

TripAdvisor/Hannah R

Outside, visitors can climb to the very top of Battery Gadsden and have a look out over the ocean, as those stationed here during the Spanish-American War would have done.

TripAdvisor/Sgt Jasper You can read more about this Charleston County Library location here.

Current hours of operation are: Monday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Google Maps/Edgar Allan Poe Library

Visit the library’s website to confirm hours before visiting.

Google Maps/Summer Flores

Google Maps

A visit here is filled with swift ocean breezes and palms that wave their fronds gently into the wind.

For those who aren’t up on Sullivans Island history, Poe was stationed in the U.S. Army on Sullivans Island from 1827 to 1828.

Stories about Poe’s time on Sullivans run as wild as the tides on the island, but one thing we know to be true is that Poe never set foot inside the renovated battery that now houses his namesake library.

TripAdvisor/Hannah R

Today, visitors to the library can view the nearly three-feet-thick walls inside the battery’s guts.

TripAdvisor/Sgt Jasper

You can read more about this Charleston County Library location here.

Google Maps/Edgar Allan Poe Library

Did you know about this cool piece of American history hiding on Sullivans Island? Have you been? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

While you’re on a Poe-inspired road trip, don’t leave Sullivans Island without visiting this Edgar Allan Poe-themed restaurant!

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Address: 1921 Ion Ave, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, USA