Website: https://www.nps.gov/edal/index.htm
Physical address: 532 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Phone number: +1 215 597 8780
Business hours: Friday to Sunday: 9am-5pm (closed 12-1pm)
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Edgar Allan Poe was something of a wanderer, having lived in Boston, the United Kingdom, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York at various times during his 40 years of life. He spent six years in Philadelphia (1838-1844) – reportedly the most productive of his life, publishing several works including Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Tell-tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher – and even in that time lived in multiple houses. The National Historical Site at 532 N. 7th Street was the last house he rented in the city, before returning to New York, and the only property that still exists today.
Currently administered by the National Parks Service, the author’s former home has been combined with the properties on either side to create a more comprehensive attraction, allowing the house itself to remain in a state of “arrested decay”. Instead of furnishing the residence as it would likely have looked during the Poes’ tenancy (Edgar lived here with his young wife, Virginia, and mother-in-law, Maria), the property has largely been left empty, leaving it up to the visitor’s imagination to place the writer within his home.
It has been suggested that the basement of this address bears a striking resemblance to the basement depicted in The Black Cat, although it is unclear when exactly the family moved into the house. In the other buildings, a gift shop and small cinema have been set up, the latter showing a brief film about the author’s life. There is also a reading room – furnished in the 19th Century style to match Poe’s description in his essay, The Philosophy of Furniture. Those wishing to see the author’s own possessions can visit the nearby Free Library of Philadelphia, which has a collection.
Outside the address, a mural of the author adorns a building opposite the site, and a statue of a raven – an homage to Poe’s famous poem, The Raven, which some historians believe would have been started in this house – stands out front. Entry to the house is free.
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