Of the many misfits who have found their way to New York City in search of a better life, perhaps none better represents the pursuit than self-professed “magazinist” and poet Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote some of his greatest works while living in Gotham.

Poe Cottage in Poe Park, where Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1846 to 1849. It had been threatened by the widening of Kingsbridge Road, but was saved through the efforts of the Shakespeare Society of New York, and moved to a location across the street, in what is now called Poe Park. From the Nineteenth Annual Report, 1914, of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society.
Edgar Allan Poe was in many ways the quintessential wanderer, spending time in many places over the course of his life. He had spent some time in New York City before and after a failed stint at West Point, and following an invitation to write for the New York Review, he moved with his young wife Virginia and his mother-in-law (and aunt) Maria Clemm to a house on 6th Avenue and Waverly Place, and then to another at 113 1/2 Carmine Street, where he wrote “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.” Poe would often walk around the nearby St. John’s Cemetery, with Virginia watching him from the window.

The house at 113 ½ Carmine Street, where the Poes would spend several months before the economic depression prompted them to move to Philadelphia. From Edgar Allan Poe, the Man, Volume 1, 1926 by Mary Elizabeth Phillips.
The Poes moved to Philadelphia in 1838, and spent several years there, with Poe publishing works such as “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “The Gold-Bug,” along with editing for several magazines. Poe also had another failed attempt at launching his own literary magazine, The Stylus. In 1844, he moved the family back to New York, living at several boarding houses in lower Manhattan.

The Poe Plan of New York City, showing some of the important locations relating to Poe’s life in Manhattan. From Edgar Allan Poe, the Man, Volume 2, 1926 by Mary Elizabeth Phillips.
By the summer of 1844, the Poes had rented out rooms in the Brennan farmhouse on West 84th Street near Broadway. Poe was fond of roaming the area and contemplating the view of the Hudson River from Mt. Tom, a large rock formation in what is now Riverside Park. It was at the Brennan farmhouse that he penned his most famous work, “The Raven,” reading an early version of the story to Brennan’s daughter Martha.


The Brennan farmhouse (above), and the room in which “The Raven” was written (below). The farmhouse was demolished in 1888, but the mantle seen to the left was saved and is at Columbia University. Both are from The life of Edgar Allan Poe by William Fearing Gill, 1877.

The Mt. Tom outcropping, which Poe named after the Brennan son Thomas. It has been preserved in Riverside Park. From Valentine’s Manual of the City of New York, New Edition (No. 7), edited by Henry Collins Brown.
In 1845, the Poes moved down to Greenwich Village, then briefly boarded at a home in Murray Hill before renting a cottage in the Village of Fordham, in which is now the Bronx. Poe hoped that Virginia, who was in poor health, would benefit from the fresh country air. The small cottage, built c. 1812, was a typical dwelling in the small but growing village, now accessible by the New York and Harlem Railroad.


Two views of the Poe Cottage as it looked in its original location in 1884. The cherry trees were favorites of Poe and Virginia, who hung birdcages from the tree branches. From Poe Cottage at Fordham by Reginald Pelham Bolton.
It was in the sparsely furnished cottage that Poe wrote “The Cask of Amontillado”, “Annabelle Lee,” “The Bells,” and “Eureka.” He often walked along the Croton Aqueduct, including across the new High Bridge over the Harlem River. He also enjoyed sojourns through Bronx Park, with its tall forest and the beautiful Bronx River.

High Bridge as seen from the Bronx side, 1848. The bridge, built by John B. Jervis, was modeled on the great Roman aqueducts, with 15 grand masonry arches spanning the Harlem River. Poe enjoyed taking long walks across the expanse. From Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York by D.T. Valentines, 1848.
On January 30, 1846, Virginia Poe, who had been sick for five years with tuberculosis, died in the cottage. She was buried in the Valentine vault of the Fordham Manor Reformed Church. Poe continued to live in the cottage until 1849, when he left for Baltimore, dying under mysterious circumstances that are still debated to this day.

The bed in which Virginia Poe died. It has been preserved and can be visited today thanks to the efforts of the Bronx Historical Society, which keeps the cottage as a museum.


The parlor and the kitchen of the Poe cottage. The rocking chair in the parlor was owned by the Poes. All three of these views are from Poe Cottage at Fordham by Reginald Pelham Bolton.
Select sources
A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by J. Gerald Kennedy
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe by J. W. Ocker
The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples
Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn