Walt Whitman House, Camden (must see)

The Walt Whitman House is the modest frame home where the American poet spent his final years, from 1884 until his death in 1892. Whitman lived in Camden for about 19 years before buying this house in 1884 for $1,750. It was the only home he personally owned, though his brother George thought it overpriced and poorly placed near railway and ferry noise. Whitman called it his “shanty” or “coop.”

Built around 1848, the house reflects the plain character of a mid-19th-century working neighbourhood. Inside, Whitman’s rooms had a disorderly rhythm, with visitors comparing his paper-filled bedroom to a newspaper office. In February 1885, Mary Davis became his housekeeper, bringing a cat, a dog, two turtledoves, and a canary. Oscar Wilde’s famous 1882 visit with elderberry wine happened before Whitman moved here.

The museum preserves objects from Whitman’s final years, including his boots, wide-brimmed hat, furnishings, writings, photographs, and the bed where he died. It also holds the original death notice nailed to the front door on March 26, 1892. Together, these items bring visitors close to the rooms where he lived, worked, and revised Leaves of Grass.

Whitman also planned his burial, commissioning a large granite mausoleum at Harleigh Cemetery that cost more than his house. After his death, over one thousand people attended a public viewing there in just three hours. The site is scheduled to close on December 1, 2025, for a $13 million restoration, with completion targeted for 2027. The project includes the adjacent Button House and a new ADA-accessible visitor and interpretive centre.