Poe in Baltimore, MD Plus (2/10/2023)

Friday, February 10, 2023

On our way to metropolitan DC, we stopped in Baltimore, MD for the Edgar Allan Poe "tour." The poet and short story writer lived here in 1833-1835, with his grandmother, aunt, and two cousins.

Mont Clare B&O Station (1851) replaced the railroad station
that Poe used to visit his friend, John Pendleton,
in Ellicott Mills, in 1831-1832

The Mont Clare station is the oldest passenger and freight station in the country, replacing the original station (1830) that was the start of a 13-mile line to Ellicott Mills (now Eillicott City). The first vehicle to make the trip in May 1830 was a horse-drawn passenger car called Pioneer. In August of 1830 the first American steam locomotive, Tom Thumb, made its debut on the same line. Interesting to note that initially, the steam locomotive took 10 minutes longer than the horse-drawn Pioneer to make the hour-long trip.

The poet and short story writer lived in this
house from 1833-1835, with his grandmother,
aunt, and two cousins

The back room of two on the ground floor

The back bedroom of two on the second floor,
the house had exhibits of Edgar Allan Poe's
life and death in Baltimore

The few artifacts included a telescope that belonged to Poe

A chair donated by the family of Poe's uncle
is claimed to have belonged to Poe

Too much glare on the portable writing desk

The attic room has been furnished like one where
Poe is said to have lived in a garrett

This photo does not show how steep
and narrow the stairways were

Rockingham Porcelain Dinner Service (c 1810) and
glassware (c 1790) that was used by Poe when he lived with
his foster family, the Allans, in Richmond, VA (1811-1827)

Edgar Allan Poe's grave in the Westmnster
Burial Ground, was erected in 1875 after
schoolchildren raised money through a
"Pennies for Poe" project, since Poe's first
grave here was unmarked

The new grave also brought together Poe's wife, Virginia Clemm Poe, and her mother Maria Poe Clemm.

The cemetery also is a final resting place for
generals and heroes of the American
revolution and War of 1812, including
Robert Gilmor (1748-1822) a wealthy
merchant who supported the Revolution

The Gilmor vault is currently empty, as the remains of the family and their family nurse, Patience Marsh were moved to the family plot in Greenmount Cemetery. Patience was perhaps the only African-American buried at Westminster.

Grave of James McHenry (1753-1816) was
a physician who served as a surgeon for
colonial troops during the American Revolution

James McHenry went on to become a signer of the United States Constitution, a Secretary of War under President George Washington and John Adams, and the namesake for nearby Fort McHenry.

Another aboveground vault, this one for General Samuel Smith
(1752-1839) who served in the Continental Army and was
promoted to General in 1794 and commanded the
Maryland militia during the War of 1812

General Sam Smith was also a member of the United States Congress, both the House and the Senate, where in the latter he served as President Pro Tempore. He also was mayor of Baltimore from 1835-1837.

Grave of James Stirling (1751-1820) who was
associated with the American Revolution

Grave of John Stricker, who fought in the American Revolution
and was later a Brigadier General in the War of 1812,
participating in the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814

The marker on the previously unmarked grave
of Edgar Allan Poe

Gravity-defying grave marker now has a metal brace
beneath the stone slab

The pyramidal vault of James Calhoun
(1743-1816) who was the first mayor of
Baltimore from 1797-1804, and
James Buchanan (1768-1840) who fought
in the American Revolution and War of 1812

The Smith Family vault was designed by
Maximilian Godefroy; Robert Smith was
Secretary of the Navy under President
Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State
under James Madison

Rear view of Westminster Hall (1852,
as a church) that was built on arches above
the Westminster Burial Ground (est 1786)

Grave of John McDonogh (1734-1809)
who served in the French-Indian War
and the American Revolution

A view showing gravestones under Westminster Hall

The Egyptian Revival Gate designed by Maximilian Godefroy

The front of Westminster Hall

We had lunch at Nando's PERi-PERi

Nando's PERi-PERi interior

Nando's PERi-PERi sauces

We shared a half-chicken (medium spicy),
with Macho Peas and Red Skin Mashed Potatoes

Peri-peri is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens/Wild Chili Pepper from Africa, and was adopted and spread by the Portuguese explorers. Nando's specializes in flame-grilled chicken in Southern Africa style.

Enoch Pratt Free Library (1931-1933)

Edgar Allan Poe Room (1934) was closed;
however, a library employee informed us that
the Poe Collection now resides in the
annex in Special Collections, yet no one
was at the desk at that location

Enoch Pratt Free Library interior

The Latrobe House (1831) was the home
of one of the judges for the Baltimore
Saturday Visiter poetry and fiction contest,
and where the judges met to review the entries

Edgar Allan Poe was the unanimous winner in fiction for his story MS Found in a Bottle,

with which he won $50. Poe's poem The Coliseum won second prize.

Baltimore Basilica/National Shrine of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (1806-1863, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe
in monumental Neoclassical style) was the first
Roman Catholic cathedral built in the country

Benjamin Henry Latrobe is considered the Father of American Architecture, who also designed the United States Capitol under President Thomas Jefferson.

The Baltimore Basilica contains two heroic paintings, gifted by King Louis XVIII of France and presented by Charles X in 1827.

St Louis Burying His Dead Soldiers (by
Baron Charles de Steuben) depicting 
King Louis IX with his armor-bearer and
chaplain burying his pestilence-stricken
men near Tunis, Africa in 1270

The Descent from the Cross (by
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin) depicting the
Blessed Mother holding her Divine Son
after being taken down from the Cross by
Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus

Baltimore Basilica interior

Only an aerial view will show that the Pope Saint
John Paul II Prayer Garden (2008, by Mahan Rykiel
Associates) is in the shape of a fish

Stainless steel bands are inscribed with symbols of the
three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism

A mural of banners depicts the flowers associated with
the Virgin Mary, including Lily of the Valley, Lily,
Marigold, and the Rose

Tamiko with a statue (2008, by Joseph Sheppard)
of Pope St John Paul II when he was greeted
by children upon his arrival to Baltimore in 1995

Pope Saint John Paul II also visted Baltimore in 1976 when he was Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła.

Evidence of the homeless is abundant in Baltimore

Thomas Wildey Monument (1865)
commemmorates the founder of the IOOF/
Independent Order of Odd Fellows in
North America; the statue (by
Edward F Durang) depicts Charity

A gate to the former Washington Medical
College Hospital (1833) was the site of
the death of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was found semi-conscious in a street gutter near East Lombard Street, and was brought to this hospital on the assumption that he was drunk. It was later determined that he was likely robbed and beaten, and he was lapsing in and out of consciousness before he died on October 7, 1849. Poe was initially buried in an unmarked grave near the hospital, before being moved to the Westminster Burial Ground.

The former hospital is now the Church Home and Hospital
Building of Johns Hopkins Hospital

Statue (1921, by Sir Moses Ezekial)
of Edgar Allan Poe, which was
commissioned by the Women's
Literary Club of Baltimore

Next: United States Naval Academy.