Poe Cottage

Da' Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City is located mostly on the mainland and includes several small islands in the East River and Long Island Sound. Seperated from Manhattan by the Harlem River and from Queens by the East River.

The land between the rivers was first settled in 1639 by an European immigrant by the name of Jonas Bronck. After his death in 1643, a river was named after him, thus the name Bronx (an abbreviated version of Bronck)was created.

The territory within Bronx county today was originally part of Westchester county and consisted of four towns, Westchester, Yonkers, Eastchester and Pelham. Over the centuries, especially in the 1800's, the county underwent many changes as far as what towns seceded or stayed within the county. Today, the Bronx borough is made up of 24 smaller towns including Westchester, Throggs Neck, Mott Haven and Riverdale.

The Bronx is rich in culture and is home to the Poe Cottage. A small farmhouse built in 1812 providing views of the rolling Bronx hills and Long Island Sound was the home of poet Edgar Allen Poe from 1842 until his death in 1849.

Performing arts are also prevelant in the county from the many Off-Off-Broadway theatres staging productions from immigrant playwrights to the creation of "Hip Hop" in the South Bronx in the 1970's. It has also been home to a few celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Billy Joel and Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Other entertainment and culture can be found at the famous Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans overlooking the Harlem River.

Many education opportunites can be found in Bronx county ranging from public or private schools to colleges. In the 1990's, the NY Department of Education started closing the large public schools and opening smaller ones in order to provide better teacher/student ratio's and for safety reasons as well.

Bronx County is the fourth most populated county in New York and despite the sterotype that it is a poor urban area, a majority of the borough does have affordable housing areas and even some upscale neighborhoods.

For more detail about Bronx County, please visit here