He's just a Poe boy, from a Poe family. . .

One little stop I wanted to make during our (sweltering hot) day in Baltimore is the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you who he was, or why this little cemetery would be a go-to place for me, a horror-loving librarian.

The story of how Baltimore's adopted son came to rest here is a little muddled; after he died in 1849, he was buried in an unmarked grave. News spread that the famous poet's grave was anonymous and uncared for, so by 1865 there was a movement in place to obtain a more fitting grave for him. The monument was placed there in 1875, and his remains were moved there. There is a small stone that marks the spot of his original placement.

As you can see from these photos, the graveyard is much more disorderly than most modern ones, with headstones right up against the church's walls. This is because the graves predate the church that stands on the grounds (the church was built in 1855) so the structure had to straddle the gravestones and burial vaults that were already there.

If the heat hadn't been so intense that day, I probably would've explored the cemetery more, but we were all melting by that point.

In closing, here's Vincent Price reciting and performing Poe's best known work "The Raven".