Postcard Thursday: Poe Cottage

Poe Cottage in the Fordham section of the Bronx; courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

Courtesy of the New York Public Library

170 years ago today, on January 29, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, for which Poe netted a whopping $9.00.

Poe did not write "The Raven" at Poe Cottage, his only extant home in New York City. If you've read Footprints in New York, you know that we have an entire chapter dedicated to tracking down Poe sites in the city, including the Brennan farmhouse (below), where "The Raven" was composed, the mantelpiece that was saved from that house when it was demolished, and the boardinghouse at 85 Amity Street (today's W 3rd Street) where Poe lived when "The Raven" was published. [And if you haven't read Footprints, what are you waiting for? It's on sale at Amazon RIGHT NOW.]

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

There are many spots associated with Poe in the city, but if you want to bundle up and seek the poet's muse, head to Riverside Park. Between 82nd and 83rd streets on Riverside Drive is Mount Tom. This rocky outcropping was a short walk from the Brennan farmhouse and it's said that Poe would come here to stare out at the Hudson and that it's where he composed "The Raven."

Poe Cottage, the third-oldest building in the Bronx, is open for visitors on weekends. If you want to travel farther afield, you can actually stay in a full-sized replica (above) of the house at the Dearborn Inn in Michigan.

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Explore more NYC history in

Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Footprints yet,

you can order it from your favorite online retailers (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.) or

from independent bookstores across the country.

And, of course, Inside the Apple is available at fine bookstores everywhere.