Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum
Encyclopedia
The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, located at 203 Amity St. in Baltimore, Maryland
, is the former home of American writer Edgar Allan Poe
in the 1830s. Now open as a museum
, the small unassuming structure is a typical row home
, and also houses the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. It was designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1972. Due to a loss of a subsidy from the city of Baltimore, the Museum may soon have to close its doors.
. Edgar Allan Poe moved in with the family in 1833 around the age of 23, after leaving West Point
. Virginia was 10 years old at the time; Poe would marry her three years later, though their only public ceremony was in 1836.
The house was rented using pension
money that Elizabeth collected thanks to her husband, David Poe Sr., who was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
. The home is small and Poe's room on the top floor has a ceiling with a sharp pitch which is six feet high at its tallest point.
In the 1930s, homes in the area, including Poe's, were set for demolition to make room for the "Poe Homes" public housing
project. The house was spared and control was given to the Edgar Allan Poe Society, which opened the home in 1949. The Poe Society still oversees the building with assistance from Baltimore's Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation (CHAP). At some point during renovations, they lifted the floorboards and found skeletal remains, reminiscent of Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart
." They turned out to be animal bones discarded into what is known as a "trash pit" beneath the home.
's death), and a large reproduction of the portrait of Virginia Clemm painted after her death as well as many other Poe-related images. A reprint of the 1849 obituary
from the October 24, 1849 edition of the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper is also on display along with a reprint of Poe's original announcement for the creation of a new literary magazine to be called The Stylus
- an endeavor that never came to fruition.
The museum and the Poe Society also host a number of Poe events throughout the year. It claims, for example, the largest Poe birthday celebration in the world every January at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground
. The organization also observes the annual visit of the mysterious Poe Toaster
and helps protect his identity.
The current curator
of the museum is Jeff Jerome.
is centered in the west roof. To the rear a two story ell projects from the south side of the main block. Its shed roof slopes to the north. The house sits on the western edge of an active low-income housing project in the west Baltimore neighborhood of Poppleton.
The house is entered through the front living room, with a dining room to the rear and two steps down. From the dining room narrow stairs lead to the dirt-floored basement and the second floor. Two bedrooms occupy the second floor, and stairs lead to a small attic or garret, which may have been occupied by Poe. The house retains the majority of its original woodwork.
, two low-level members of the Barksdale Gang
recall how one was once approached by a white tourist asking him if he knew the location of the "Poe House". Misunderstanding, he replies "Look around, take your pick!" The Wire chronicles the activities of the fictional Barksdale Organization based in west Baltimore, where the Poe House is located.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, is the former home of American writer Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
in the 1830s. Now open as a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, the small unassuming structure is a typical row home
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
, and also houses the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. It was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1972. Due to a loss of a subsidy from the city of Baltimore, the Museum may soon have to close its doors.
History
The brick home, then numbered 3 Amity St., and now numbered 203 Amity Street, is assumed to have been built in 1830 and rented by Poe's aunt Maria Clemm in 1832. Clemm was joined in the home with her ailing mother, Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, and her daughter Virginia ClemmVirginia Eliza Clemm Poe
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe was the wife of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The couple were first cousins and married when Virginia Clemm was 13 and Poe was 27...
. Edgar Allan Poe moved in with the family in 1833 around the age of 23, after leaving West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
. Virginia was 10 years old at the time; Poe would marry her three years later, though their only public ceremony was in 1836.
The house was rented using pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
money that Elizabeth collected thanks to her husband, David Poe Sr., who was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. The home is small and Poe's room on the top floor has a ceiling with a sharp pitch which is six feet high at its tallest point.
In the 1930s, homes in the area, including Poe's, were set for demolition to make room for the "Poe Homes" public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
project. The house was spared and control was given to the Edgar Allan Poe Society, which opened the home in 1949. The Poe Society still oversees the building with assistance from Baltimore's Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation (CHAP). At some point during renovations, they lifted the floorboards and found skeletal remains, reminiscent of Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the...
." They turned out to be animal bones discarded into what is known as a "trash pit" beneath the home.
Museum today
The home is open to the public as a modest museum with self-guided tours. Displays in the house include a lock of Poe's hair, some original china that once belonged to John Allan (Poe's guardian after Eliza PoeEliza Poe
Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe was an English-born American actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe.-Life and career:...
's death), and a large reproduction of the portrait of Virginia Clemm painted after her death as well as many other Poe-related images. A reprint of the 1849 obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
from the October 24, 1849 edition of the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper is also on display along with a reprint of Poe's original announcement for the creation of a new literary magazine to be called The Stylus
The Stylus
The Stylus, originally intended to be named The Penn, was a would-be periodical owned and edited by Edgar Allan Poe. It had long been a dream of Poe to establish an American journal with very high standards in order to elevate the literature of the time...
- an endeavor that never came to fruition.
The museum and the Poe Society also host a number of Poe events throughout the year. It claims, for example, the largest Poe birthday celebration in the world every January at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground
Westminster Hall and Burying Ground
The Westminster Hall and Burying Ground is a graveyard and former church located at 519 West Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Occupying the southeast corner of Fayette and Greene Street on the west side of downtown Baltimore, the site is probably most famous as the burial site...
. The organization also observes the annual visit of the mysterious Poe Toaster
Poe Toaster
The Poe Toaster is an unofficial nickname given to a mysterious person who, from approximately 1949 until 2009, paid an annual tribute to American author Edgar Allan Poe by visiting the stone marking his original grave in Baltimore, Maryland in the early hours of January 19, Poe's birthday...
and helps protect his identity.
The current curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the museum is Jeff Jerome.
Works penned in this house
Though it cannot be fully proven, the Poe Society alleges that the following works were created while Poe was staying in this house:Stories
|
Poems
|
Description
The Poe House is a 2½ story two-bay brick structure with a gabled metal roof. The front door is on the left side of the west elevation, at the top of a wood stoop. The house is flanked on the north by a contiguous building; the south elevation is windowless. A single gabled dormerDormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
is centered in the west roof. To the rear a two story ell projects from the south side of the main block. Its shed roof slopes to the north. The house sits on the western edge of an active low-income housing project in the west Baltimore neighborhood of Poppleton.
The house is entered through the front living room, with a dining room to the rear and two steps down. From the dining room narrow stairs lead to the dirt-floored basement and the second floor. Two bedrooms occupy the second floor, and stairs lead to a small attic or garret, which may have been occupied by Poe. The house retains the majority of its original woodwork.
Poe House in popular culture
In the opening scene of episode 2, season 3 "All Due Respect," of the HBO series The WireThe WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
, two low-level members of the Barksdale Gang
Barksdale Organization
In the television series The Wire, the fictional Barksdale Organization led by Avon Barksdale began as the most powerful and violent drug crew in Baltimore, Maryland and was the main focus of investigation in seasons one and three...
recall how one was once approached by a white tourist asking him if he knew the location of the "Poe House". Misunderstanding, he replies "Look around, take your pick!" The Wire chronicles the activities of the fictional Barksdale Organization based in west Baltimore, where the Poe House is located.
See also
- Edgar Allan Poe MuseumEdgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond)The Edgar Allan Poe Museum is a museum located in Richmond, Virginia, dedicated to American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Though Poe never lived in the building, it serves to commemorate his time living in Richmond. The museum holds one of the world's largest collections of original manuscripts, letters,...
in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... - Edgar Allan Poe National Historic SiteEdgar Allan Poe National Historic SiteThe Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a preserved home once rented by American author Edgar Allan Poe, located in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,... - Edgar Allan Poe CottageEdgar Allan Poe CottageThe Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, sometimes called simply Poe Cottage, is the former home of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It is located on Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse in the The Bronx, New York, a short distance from its original location, and is now in the northern part of Poe Park.The...
in The Bronx, New York