Sites: Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site (National Park Service)

Poe’s 6 years in Philadelphia, 1838-1844, were his most productive. Not only did Poe edit and provide critical reviews for very successful magazines, but he also invented the modern detective story. While in Philadelphia, Poe penned such classics as “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and poems like “The Haunted Palace” and “To Helen”.

While living in Philadelphia, Poe went from the high of being a popular lecturer to the despair of learning that his wife Virginia was ill with tuberculosis. The brief and tragic life of the author, his times, and literary legacy are interpreted in the building that once sheltered Poe and his family.