Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site

The Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site is a preserved home that the author rented out during his six years in Philadelphia. The particular house is one of the only houses Poe rented out that is still left standing, and in it, he lived with his wife and aunt. The Historic Site consists of the house itself, as well as two connecting houses that were built later, and as a whole, it houses exhibits on Poe, a reading room modeled after her specifications for a proper room, and a gift shop.

From 1837 to 1844, Edgar Allan Poe lived in the city of Philadelphia. During his time in the city, Poe lived in a number of different houses, moving for one reason or another. The specific house that the National Historic Site is housed in is merely one of the last of these homes left standing. In his coming to Philadelphia, Poe had hoped to land a job with a magazine that would allow him to continue his literary writing. However, he ended up mainly taking numerous freelancing jobs in the city, selling stories when he could. As his fame grew, however, he was given an editorial position in Graham’s Magazine, and it was in this Pennsylvania magazine that Poe published “The Murders in Rue Morgue” and started the detective story genre. Although Poe wrote numerous works during his time in Philadelphia, such as “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” it is unclear which stories Poe actually wrote while living in that house.

After being occupied by numerous other families, the House was eventually purchased by Richard Gimbel, who was a fan of Poe, in 1933. In memory of his beloved author, Gimbel had the home refurbished and made it into a museum. Today, the historic site is managed by the National Park Service, and it includes the home where Poe lived and two other houses. The rooms of the house are left alone and are not furnished to look like they did during Poe's time. The neighboring residences include a welcome area, gift shop, a film screening room, and some minor exhibits. The site also includes a reading room decorated based on Poe's theories in “The Philosophy of Furniture.” This is the only room on the site furnished to look like the 19th century, is not part of Poe's original home, and is not meant to suggest Poe had a similarly decorated room. The room includes a complete collection of Poe's works, including criticism, and audio interpretations of his work. A statue outside of the home depicts a large raven, representative of Poe's poem, “The Raven,” and the cellar in the house resembles one described in “The Black Cat.”

http://www.ushistory.org/tour/edgar-allan-poe-house.htm http://www.nps.gov/edal/learn/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe_National_Historic_Site