In 1784, German immigrant and Revolutionary War soldier Jacobus Barhyte
(1753-1840) discovered a plot of land north of Albany with thick
forests and plentiful ponds and streams. Immediately entranced, he
acquired the property, and established an inn and restaurant that
became famous for its trout dinners and wines. The place seemed to have
a magical power to draw in celebrity visitors, including former King of
Spain Joseph Bonaparte, and, the story goes, the great American writer
Edgar Allen Poe. While there is debate surrounding the oft-told tale
that Poe composed much of his famous poem "The Raven" while ambling
through the woods of Barhyte's Farm, here it is related as if it were
gospel: for every great institution deserves a great founding myth, and
this is the story of how Poe was inspired by the very place that would
one day become Yaddo.