Brennan Farmhouse – Residence of West 84th Street Writer

The Brennan Farmhouse was located on a stony knoll halfway between the Hudson River on what would later become 84th Street. In the summer of 1843, Edgar Allan Poe who was taken with Manhattan’s natural beauty spent time summering here in what was largely farmland at the time. Poe along with his wife Virginia, who was suffering from tuberculosis, and her mother, Maria Clemm became boarders at Patrick and Mary Brennan’s farmhouse. Poe was hopeful this area would provide respite for his wife. They ended up spending two summers at this location which is likely where he completed his famous poem “The Raven”.

To this day there are plaques on both the east and west side of Broadway that commemorate the location of The Brennan Farmhouse. Its condition deteriorated over the years, and the property was demolished in 1888. Poe died in poverty in 1849 at the age of 40. (Photo from Wikipedia Common)