The Fascinating Homes Of Edgar Allan Poe - Yesterday's America

Edgar Allan Poe wrote his great works while living in several homes across several cities, scattered along America’s East Coast. While Baltimore’s claim is the most famous — it was there that Poe died in 1849 — he also spent important periods in Virginia and New York.

Here are some rare images of Poe’s former homes — at least one of which is rumored to be haunted, though not by the author himself.

Growing up in Richmond

As a child, Poe and his foster family lived in the Ellis home in Richmond, at the corner of Second and Franklin Streets. It was one of several homes he grew up in. This photograph was taken in 1877, and the building was demolished six years later.

In 1822, at the age of 13, Poe and his family moved from the Ellis house into this home at Fourteenth Street and Tobacco Alley. It was at this time that the young Poe collected his poetry into a book he asked Allan to have printed for him. Poe’s headmaster advised Allan against publishing the volume because he thought Poe already had too much pride.

Beginning in Baltimore

The Baltimore house in which Edgar Allan Poe was living when he began his literary career in 1833 has survived. Located at 203 North Amity Street, it is overseen by Poe Baltimore, a nonprofit organization created for the purpose. The little home has become a destination for Poe pilgrims from around the world.

Honeymooning in Petersburg

Petersburg, Virginia, was a melting pot of French, Haitian, Scotch-Irish, and free black populations. It was in this eclectic city that Poe chose to take his new wife, thirteen-year-old first cousin Virginia Clemm, on their honeymoon in 1836. They stayed in the Hiram Haines Coffee and Ale House, which is pictured here as it looks today. Legend says that on the anniversary of Virginia’s death, she can be seen looking out the window on the far right. (Haunted hotels! Who knew?)

The House’s upstairs rooms are virtually untouched since the time Poe and Virginia visited them. The second-floor bedroom where Poe and Virginia would have stayed for their honeymoon.

Completing “The Raven” in New York

Precisely when, where and how Poe composed “The Raven” is unknown. But the most likely location of the poem’s completion, if not its conception, is the Brennan farmhouse that once stood on what is now Eighty-fourth Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway in New York. This etching created around 1880 depicts the Brennan farmhouse. Though the building has been demolished, the mantel from Poe’s room is preserved at Columbia University.

Yesterday's America Editorial Team