Paying Our Respects at Edgar Allan Poe's Grave

October 19, 2022

What’s a trip to the Maryland State Archives without a side trip to Baltimore. We went to the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground on Fayette Street to see Edgar Allan Poe’s gravesite. It’s a lovely small, and slightly spooky cemetery. Another interesting burial is James McHenry–Fort McHenry is named for him. The plaque explains McHenry was present when George Washington resigned his commission, shortly after the end of the American Revolution. Washington resigned at Annapolis, established as the US capital on 23 November 1783.¹

People bring offerings, such as the cigarettes at the base of the marker.

The cemetery walls are kind of faux Egyptian and feel a bit spooky.

“State House Trust,” Maryland Manual On-Line: A Guide to Maryland and It’s Government (https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25ind/html/68shous.html : accessed 19 October 2022).

About Author

Vanessa Wood is a genealogical researcher and writer specializing in American family history, with particular depth in Southern states, California, and families with roots in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS), and holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University. She is a First Prize winner of the 2026 Montana Family History Writing Contest and has 25+ published articles in journals including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Vanessa is the author of Pryor Wives: Stories of Family, Fortune, and Fiasco (2023), Board in Venice (2025), and The Kinship Papers, Vol. 1. Her books are available on Amazon.com. She can be contacted via email.