Forgotten Lore: Edgar Allan Poe and Raven Rock at Trough Creek State Park

Raven Rock. Sounds like a good place for bird-watching and reading poetry. In particular, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” 

But this is more than just in the name. Here is a “quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” from central Pennsylvania’s mountains.  Edgar Allan Poe is rumored to have used Raven Rock in Pennsylvania’s Trough Creek State Park as inspiration for his most famous work, “The Raven.”

Raven Rock May Have Inspired The Raven

Former Pennsylvania Governor Martin Grove Brumbaugh is said to have done extensive research on the subject before he died in 1930.  While Poe was living in Philadelphia, Brumbaugh maintained that he became friends with writer Richard Penn Smith, the grandson of Huntingdon’s founder, Reverend William Smith. Richard Penn Smith’s wife was a native of McConnellstown; consequently, they would make trips to Huntingdon County.

Brumbaugh believed that Poe accompanied Smith on one of those trips. During that time, they visited the Trough Creek Gorge. Raven Rock was the nesting site for thousands of ravens then, and Brumbaugh believed this site inspired Poe. 

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary  Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore …”

It’s also said that an old Philadelphia Inquirer columnist named Herman Collins said that Poe once visited the region and that Poe’s writing “The Raven” resulted from this visit. 

Whether any of that is true is likely forever lost to history.  Regardless, it’s a fun thought while exploring Trough Creek State Park.

To stand where Poe may have stood, start at the upper end of Abbot Run Trail. This trail intersects with the Balanced Rock Trail near the geologic wonder of Balanced Rock. The trail ends along Trough Creek at the base of Raven Rock, which used to be a favorite nesting site for ravens.  Return the same way you came. 

The hike is beautiful, but the local legend is simply fascinating.  

If you plan on visiting the park, please check out our Trough Creek State Park visitor’s guide.