Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site Visitor Center

GENERAL INFORMATION

In 1848, four years after Edgar Allan Poe moved out of the house at 234 North 7th Street in Philadelphia, two additional houses were built onto the existing building. The National Park Service now owns all three and uses the two newer houses as the park’s Visitor Center. It is the Visitor Center that you see from 7th Street. The Poe House is around back situated alongside a courtyard. (Note: The house number in 1843 was 234 per a letter written by Poe. Today it is 530, and 532 is the number for the Visitor Center).

You are welcome to drive to the Poe House, but there is no parking lot specifically for the house—you must park on the street. If you do not have a problem walking, the house is only a mile from Independence Hall, which is in the downtown historic district of Philadelphia. There are a number of ways to get there, and by simply following a map and taking the most direct route you will likely end up on 6^th or 7^th street, but these lead past busy I-676 entrance ramps and cross other wide streets. A safer alternative is to take 4^th Street north to Spring Garden Street, then take a left and continue walking until you reach 7^th Street. The Poe House is to the right and within sight of the corner.

A block farther north from the Poe House is a low income housing project, the Spring Garden Apartments, though the walk to the house is mainly through a business district. The neighborhood surrounding the house looked fine to me, and I never had any safety concerns, especially during daytime. You’ll find people walking everywhere.

Intersection of 7th and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia

OPERATING HOURS

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 5 PM. The house and Visitor Center are closed from noon to 1 PM for an employee lunch break. You cannot physically enter the buildings during this time and must wait outside for them to reopen.

Times can always change, so before making travel plans be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

AMENITIES

• Ranger-staffed information desk where you can pick up a free park brochure
• Tours of the Poe House, guided or self-guided, begin here
• Small book and souvenir store
• Park film
• Exhibit area
• Reading Room
• Restrooms

Note: The Visitor Center is accessible to those with mobility problems. However, the Poe House is an old house with stairs, so it is inaccessible to those in wheelchairs and those who cannot climb stairs.

Information desk and souvenir store at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

PARK FILM

An 8-minute film about Poe is shown on demand. The film, which is nothing more than a series of illustrations accompanied by narration, covers Poe’s entire life, not just his time in Philadelphia. There is no objectionable material, so the film is suitable for all ages. Unless you are very familiar with Poe, I suggest watching it before taking a tour of the Poe House.

EXHIBIT AREA

A small exhibit area tells the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s life. There are no actual artifacts or personal belongings of Poe, just information panels with text, illustrations, and a few historical photographs.

Exhibit area at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

In addition to learning about Poe, exhibits cover writers and other artists who were influenced by his work.

Exhibit on Poe’s influence, Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

READING ROOM

Edgar Allan Poe Reading Room (photo by National Park Service)

One room in the Visitor Center is now the Edgar Allen Poe Reading Room. Feel free to stay as long as you like—or until the house closes—reading not only the stories and poems that Poe is now famous for, but also his works of literary criticism. Editing literary journals and critiquing other writers was how Poe made the bulk of his money during his lifetime. In fact, it is most likely one of Poe’s poor reviews of another writer that led to a distorted belief that his life was full of scandal.

As writers and editors, Poe and Rufus Griswold were rivals with a cordial dislike for one another. Griswold had hired Poe to write a review of his poetry collection, The Poets and Poetry of America. Poe, who previously trashed the collection in conversations with friends, softened his criticism since he was being paid, but the review was far from what Griswold hoped for. Nevertheless, he had it printed so that Poe could not claim he suppressed it.

A few months later an anonymous review appeared in a Philadelphia magazine, this one tearing apart Griswold’s anthology. The review was not by Poe, by Griswold truly believed it was. Poe was working as a traveling lecturer on poetry during this time and always spoke of Griswold’s collection negatively, further cementing in Griswold’s mind that he had written the review.

In 1845, Griswold began a collection of short stories and wrote to Poe asking to include some of his works, for although the two had disagreements, he recognized that Poe was a good writer. Poe took the opportunity to apologize and felt that he and Griswold were back on speaking terms.

After Poe’s death in 1849, Griswold took to writing slanderous biographical articles about him. He wrote lies such as Poe had been dishonorably discharged from the military, that he had been kicked out of college for partying too hard, and that he was a drug addict, all the while praising Poe as a writer, which made his personal attacks seem legitimate. All claims could easily have been rebuked had anyone done research, but this is what stuck in the mind of the public. Other writers came to Poe’s defense and exposed Griswold’s lies, but newspapers and magazines preferred to reprint the scandals. Such was Griswold’s revenge. Perhaps a methodical plotting straight out of a Poe horror story?

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Allow yourself anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site Visitor Center. This gives you time to watch the film and browse through the exhibits. I suggest familiarizing yourself with Poe before joining a tour of the Poe House, unless you are already well aware of his history. For those who want to read all of the information in the museum, it took me a half hour to do so. If that is your plan, give yourself a full hour for your visit. Set aside an additional hour for the house tour.

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