Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
- Year
- 1966
- City
- Philadelphia, PA
This modest house at 532 N. 7th Street in Spring Garden is the only one of Edgar Allan Poe's several Philadelphia rentals still standing, out of homes he cycled through between 1838 and 1844. Poe called his six years in the city his most prolific stretch, publishing 31 stories here including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Gold-Bug." The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, preserving the last physical trace of that period.
the building
The Dickens review. In February 1841, while living in Philadelphia, Poe reviewed Charles Dickens's serialized novel Barnaby Rudge and correctly predicted its ending before the final installment ran. The review reportedly startled Dickens, and Poe's engagement with the novel is credited with feeding into his 1845 poem "The Raven."
significance
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the sole survivor among Poe's known Philadelphia addresses, which also included homes on Arch Street, at 16th and Locust, and on Coates Street.
nearby
- Guild House
- Terminal Commerce Building
- Spring Garden School No. 2
- St. John's Church, Philadelphia
- St. Augustine Church, Philadelphia
- Congregation Rodeph Shalom