Amidst Poe's centennial in 1909, a group of Richmond residents campaigned for the city to better recognize the writer. Citizens asked the city council to erect a statue of Poe on Monument Avenue, but were turned down because he was deemed a disreputable character. The same group went on to found the Poe Museum. "The New York Times" called 1909 a banner year for acknowledgement of the importance of Poe, mentioning the Richmond museum. In 1911, Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) saved the house and opened it in 1922 as the Old Stone House.