Having lived in Maryland (and Baltimore County and City) for my entire life, you'd think I'd have spent more time seeing the landmarks and historic sites here. Well, we all know no one does that for their own hometown. Until now, for me. I packed up the car with some friends and headed into the heart of Baltimore to visit Edgar Allen Poe's gravesite.

This is the marker for the Poe family. His mother, wife, and Poe himself are buried under it. Because of visitors and "souvenir" takers the entire gravesite is covered in brick. Originally all family members were buried at the far end of the cemetery, but had to be moved after a train derailment damaged the graveyard.

This is Poe's actual grave, right next to his grandfather's. Poe's no longer underground here, and the original marker was destroyed in a train derailment. This one was erected after the family was moved to the front of the cemetery.

It's strange to wander around an old cemetery like this and see modern building construction going up no more than thirty feet away. The graves will long outlast the things springing up around them, no doubt. Much like they outlived the buildings which were demolished for these new ones.

Cramped conditions, polluted air that makes bus exhaust look clean, no indoor plumbing, no concept of public hygeine, no antibiotics, and surgical areas which were as dirty as a bum's jockey shorts made 1800's Baltimore a tough place to have a kid. This cemetery has many areas which are little streets of dead children- usually none more than a few weeks old.

A few prominent or wealthy families in Baltimore purchased mausoleums so that they could remain ostentatious even in death. In the small cemeteries in the city a mausoleum or crypt is needed to make the most of the space available.

A whole family resting together against a crypt. It's like a decomposing Brady Bunch having a picnic.