The Horse You Came In On Saloon

The Colonial-era building in Baltimore’s Fells Point Historic District is rumored to have been one of Edgar Allan Poe’s favorite drinking spots, and claims to be the place where he took his last drink before he was found wandering the streets, was taken to the Washington Medical College, and died four days later. There’s even a seat marked “Poe’s Last Stop.”

It’s been called The Horse You Came In On Saloon (locals just say “the Horse”) since the 1970s. The inside has been modernized, but the building’s exterior remains original. The building has been a continuously operating bar since 1775, making it the oldest in Baltimore—and the only bar in Maryland that continued operating during Prohibition.

The bar sits on the last street before the docks on the Patapsco River, and it’s a short walk from where Poe first met and fell in love with Virginia Clemm, who died from tuberculosis in 1847. (He’d since moved across town to Amity Street where Poe House and Museum sit today).

There is some controversy around the bar’s claim to fame as Poe’s last stop. According to the Baltimore Post-Examiner, it’s “not possible that ‘The Horse’ was Poe’s ‘final’ destination before he died.” However, he was found just a few blocks away, and it’s definitely possible he drank there at some point that day.

Now it’s a beloved dive bar that hosts live music most nights, but sometimes before locking up, the staff leaves a glass of whiskey out for the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.