In which city was Edgar Allan Poe born?

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. He was born Edgar Poe, the second child of actors David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe.

Poe’s early connection to Boston was brief. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the next year. The orphaned Poe was then taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia, who raised him but never formally adopted him. Their surname became his middle name.

Because Poe is strongly associated with Baltimore, Richmond, and Philadelphia, Boston is sometimes overlooked as his birthplace. Baltimore became especially important later: it was where he spent part of his youth, married Virginia Clemm, and was buried after his death in 1849.

Poe’s difficult childhood and unstable adult life shaped his work as a poet, short-story writer, editor, and literary critic. He later became one of the pioneers of detective fiction and a major figure in Gothic literature.