eturning to Richmond in 1849 still preoccupied with the goal of his lifetime: owning his own magazine. Setting off to New York soon after to visit Mrs. Clemm, his hopes still high for the future, Edgar traveled no farther than Baltimore. There he died in delirium of “acute congestion of the brain” and was buried near his grandfather in the Presbyterian cemetery. Conclusion Exactly how long Edgar lived in the small brick house now connected to 530 North 7th St. is unknown. Apparently, he moved into this house sometime between the fall of 1842 and 1843 and left in April 1844. Like all of Poe’s homes, this one was rented. It may or may not have been furnished when Poe, his wife Virginia his mother-in-law, Maria Clemm, and their cat, Catterina, moved in. Whatever furniture they used or purchased has disappeared without a trace. The importance of this house lies in its location and its connection to Edgar Allan Poe. During the entire six years that Poe lived in Philadelphia, he attained his greatest successes as an editor and critic, and he published some of his most famous tales, including, “The Gold Bug,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart.” and “”The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Of his several Philadelphia homes, only this one survives. It serves as a tangible link with Poe and his days of greatness in Philadelphia. For this reason, it is fitting that Congress chose this site as our nation’s memorial to Edgar Allan Poe. One would think that Poe would be mostly remembered for his powerful tales, but much of his international reputation is because of his critical acuteness, which pointed in equally new directions. Poe was among the first to recognize the tendency of the age toward “the curt, the condensed, the pointed, the readily diffused.” In a famous critical piece, Poe recognized Hawthorne as one of our “few m...
