Baltimore Poe House And Museum aka: Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum

203 North Amity Street, 21223, 410-396-7932. www.poebicentennial.com or eapoe.org.

The Poe House is not in the “worst ghettos of Baltimore” but I can understand how someone who isn’t used to an urban setting can be intiminated by the area. Just one block south of the Poe House is the University of Maryland BioTech Centers. Around the corner is a Credit Union Building and a Rite Aid Pharmancy. Young professional people lived in the neighborhood. There are quaint small townhomes in the area but we see what we want to see. The front door is locked for crowd control. 95% of the historic homes in Baltimore and the surrounding areas keep the front door lock because of the lack of a reception area. The front room to the Poe House can hold about 20 people. Can you imagine if you had 20 people in the room and you had people trying to enter? You have to knock on the door to the Philadelphia Poe House and the Poe Cottage in the Bronx also. But thank you for the compliments.

All Poe fans must come here because it’s just a few blocks away from his grave. You can see two great Poe sites in a few hours.

This museum is pretty trippy. It’s in one of the worst ghettos of Baltimore and is only open 3-4 hours a day. Luckily, Balitomre PD usually has someone in front of it during open hours. However, because of the neighborhood, they keep the door locked, and you have to knock on the door to be let in.

The museum is very small, but has a lot of interesting stuff including some beautiful artwork from Poe’s stories. The curator, Jeff Jerome, is one of the premier experts on Poe and Baltimore. He’s a friendly guy with great stories.