HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Edgar Allan Poe and his bride Virginia Clemm stayed in this 1829 Old Towne Petersburg tavern during their 1836 honeymoon — the building stands, though the business has since closed.
12 W Bank St, Petersburg, VA 23803
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Building exterior viewable from public street at no charge; ghost tour fees vary by operator
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban sidewalk in Old Towne Petersburg historic district
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1829 · Edgar Allan Poe 1836 Honeymoon Site · Antebellum Literary Gathering Place · Old Towne Petersburg Historic District
The building at 12 W Bank St in Old Towne Petersburg opened as a tavern and coffee house in 1829 under Hiram Haines, editor of the Petersburg American Constellation. Haines maintained a close personal and professional friendship with Edgar Allan Poe, who contributed work to Haines's paper during his time in the Richmond area.
In May 1836, Poe and his 13-year-old bride Virginia Clemm stopped in Petersburg during their honeymoon journey and stayed in the second-floor suite of Haines's establishment. The Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond has documented this honeymoon visit in detail, noting that the tavern served as a gathering point for writers and intellectuals in the antebellum period.
Virginia Clemm died of tuberculosis on January 30, 1847, in New York. The Petersburg building continued operating in various commercial capacities across subsequent decades. Most recently it housed a coffee house and bar that traded on the Poe connection before closing. The 1829 brick structure remains standing in the Old Towne Petersburg historic district, a designated National Historic District.
The site appears on local ghost tour routes as one of several Poe-connected stops in the Richmond-Petersburg corridor.
Sources
The ghost associated with the Hiram Haines building is Virginia Clemm, Poe's wife, who died of tuberculosis on January 30, 1847. Petersburg author Michelle Hamilton documented the legend: on the death anniversary, her apparition reportedly appears at the upper right window of the building, looking outward.
The claim is confined to local paranormal literature and ghost tour accounts; no independent documentation of sightings exists. The connection draws on the verified historical fact of Poe and Clemm's 1836 honeymoon stay, which the Poe Museum in Richmond has confirmed from period sources.
The site is a regular stop on Petersburg ghost walks precisely because the Poe connection is documented — the paranormal layer is thin but the historical legitimacy of the building is solid.
Notable Entities
View the 1829 brick tavern building at 12 W Bank St where Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Clemm stayed during their May 1836 honeymoon. The structure stands in the Old Towne Petersburg historic district. The business closed but the building remains.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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