Editing Edgar Allan Poe (section)

== Departure and Legacy ==

Poe left Philadelphia in 1844 for New York, seeking opportunities that his Philadelphia difficulties had complicated. The remaining five years of his life included continued writing, "The Raven" (1845) bringing the fame his Philadelphia work deserved, and the mysterious death in Baltimore that has fascinated biographers since. His Philadelphia years, though only six years within a forty-year life, represented the period when his abilities and opportunities aligned most productively.<ref name="silverman"/>

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service, preserves the Spring Garden house as the only Poe residence surviving in Philadelphia. The site's museum and the house itself allow visitors to encounter the space where American gothic literature achieved definition. Poe's Philadelphia legacy encompasses the work produced during residence and the physical preservation that honors it, the city's contribution to his achievement evident in the literary history his years there established.<ref name="kennedy"/>