Edgar Allan Poe residence, Waverly Place. Undated photo, ca. 1900. This turn of the century snow scene includes the Waverly Place townhouse were Edgar Allan Poe once lived. No. 137, at left, was built in 1829 by Thomas Cumming a builder who developed several houses in the surrounding area, including on Gay Street. When Poe came to New York in 1837, he first settled in Greenwich Village, before moving to farmhouses on the Upper West Side and in Fordham. On Waverly Place, Poe was close to the Northern Dispensary, where he was often treated.