# Is there actually a "Rue Morgue" in Paris? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719 "2008-07-25T09:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/1 "2008-07-25T09:00:58Z")
Reading the world’s first modern mystery story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” I wonder if Poe made up the telling name of the street, or if there actually is a Rue Morgue in Paris. There are certainly morgues in the city, but I don’t think too many people in this neighborhood would be happy about the name. ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/2 "2008-07-25T09:09:19Z")
Apparently [yes, there is](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rue+morgue,+paris&ie=UTF8&ll=48.865054,2.341118&spn=0.076224,0.149002&z=13&iwloc=A). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/3 "2008-07-25T09:19:18Z")
:smack: I could have had the idea of using Google Maps as well. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/4 "2008-07-25T10:37:21Z")
On Street View you can see an orangatan. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/5 "2008-07-25T10:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=puppygod] Apparently [yes, there is](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rue+morgue,+paris&ie=UTF8&ll=48.865054,2.341118&spn=0.076224,0.149002&z=13&iwloc=A). [/QUOTE] I’m confused. That placemark, though labelled Rue Morgue, is on Rue Des Pyramides if you view it on Street View. I don’t see a Rue Morgue anywhere near that placemark… ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/6 "2008-07-25T11:34:56Z")
[QUOTE=Schnitte] There are certainly morgues in the city, but I don’t think too many people in this neighborhood would be happy about the name. [/QUOTE] Well, you want to live in a city with history, you have to take the bad with the good. My neighborhood is on an old execution grounds, so the surrounding locations have names like “Bone Street” and “Bridge of Tears”. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/7 "2008-07-25T13:24:13Z")
The place mark appears to be fictitious, based on Poe’s story. The note attached to it has a quote from the story: “This is one of those miserable thoroughfares which intervene between the Rue Richelieu and the Rue St. Roch.” Rue Richelieu and Rue St. Roch both are real, and the place mark is located between them, but I can’t see a true Rue Morgue on the Google Maps either. I don’t have an annotated Poe handy, but I’ve always believed that the place name was made up by Poe to lend atmosphere to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/8 "2008-07-25T13:52:12Z")
[QUOTE=Mycroft H.] The place mark appears to be fictitious, based on Poe’s story. The note attached to it has a quote from the story: “This is one of those miserable thoroughfares which intervene between the Rue Richelieu and the Rue St. Roch.” Rue Richelieu and Rue St. Roch both are real, and the place mark is located between them, but I can’t see a true Rue Morgue on the Google Maps either. I don’t have an annotated Poe handy, but I’ve always believed that the place name was made up by Poe to lend atmosphere to the story. [/QUOTE] Many street names have changed over the years. Maybe it was Rue Morgue in Poe’s day but has since been renamed? I imagine the residents would have been unhappy with living in the “Rue Morgue”, and might have petitioned the authorities to change it. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/9 "2008-07-25T14:33:33Z")
Well from [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murders_in_the_Rue_Morgue) . > [@](#): > > Poe originally titled the story “Murders in the Rue Trianon” but renamed it to better associate with death. So I think it’s safe to assume that if there is a Rue Morgue (which there does not appear to be) it has nothing to do with Poe or his story. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/10 "2008-07-25T14:50:36Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] I imagine the residents would have been unhappy with living in the “Rue Morgue”, and might have petitioned the authorities to change it. [/QUOTE] I dunno - the address has a certain _cachet_. Or it would have if _morgue_ didn’t also translate as ‘arrogance’. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/11 "2008-07-25T17:07:43Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] Many street names have changed over the years. Maybe it was Rue Morgue in Poe’s day but has since been renamed? I imagine the residents would have been unhappy with living in the “Rue Morgue”, and might have petitioned the authorities to change it. [/QUOTE] Valid point. I do happen to have an 1870s map of Paris at home that I will check tonight and post my findings. I also have a book about Poe that deals with his life concentrating on the context of his later story ‘The Mystery of Marie Rogêt’. The book is [The Beautiful Cigar Girl](http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Cigar-Girl-Rogers-Invention/dp/B000N3T40G) by Dan Stashower. I’ll check that as well and see if he mentions anything about how Poe chose the setting for ‘Rue Morgue’. The book is a mini-biography of Poe and is quite a good read. (By the way, Dan Stashower did sign up as a member or guest several years ago to make a comment on **Dex** ’s report on Sherlock Holmes. Stashower wrote a new annotated Sherlock Holmes collection that met with critical acclaim. Right now he has finished an annotated _Dracula_ that will be released on October 31st.) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/12 "2008-07-25T17:10:48Z")
Awesome! I’ll be buying that! I, too, have\* The Beautiful Cigar Girl \* at home. There should be quite a flurry of interest in Poe this year, what with his 200th birthday forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/13 "2008-07-25T17:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] Well, you want to live in a city with history, you have to take the bad with the good. My neighborhood is on an old execution grounds, so the surrounding locations have names like “Bone Street” and “Bridge of Tears”. [/QUOTE] True that. I used to live in Martyrs’ Field Road in Canterbury in England, named for the Protestants burned there in the 16th century by Bloody Mary (Mary I). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/14 "2008-07-25T17:39:08Z")
So what’s the story with “Charring Cross”? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/15 "2008-07-25T17:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] So what’s the story with “Charring Cross”? [/QUOTE] It’s Charing (with one r). The cross was erected by King Edward I as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile ( [Charing Cross - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross) ), though the cross is no longer there. I don’t know where the place name Charing comes from, but I don’t think it’s from anything having been burnt there. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/16 "2008-07-25T17:52:16Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] On Street View you can see an orangatan. [/QUOTE] Don’t you mean “ourang-outang”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/17 "2008-07-25T17:59:48Z")
It was explained to me that Charing Cross came from when King Edward’s wife died. He had her carried home and every where she was set down he erected a cross. Chere Reine Cross, meaning dear or loved ruler (or queen). I bought that story as a youth, but cannot verify it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/18 "2008-07-25T18:03:41Z")
Well, the story makes sense, but there’s a [Charring Cross Drive](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl) near me. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/19 "2008-07-25T18:42:01Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I dunno - the address has a certain _cachet_. Or it would have if _morgue_ didn’t also translate as ‘arrogance’. [/QUOTE] I wonder if that is why Bob Dylan said “Don’t put on any airs when you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue”? And wouldn’t that mean “Morgue Street Avenue”? My ignorance, it burns. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719/20 "2008-07-25T19:52:16Z")
[QUOTE=DrCube] I wonder if that is why Bob Dylan said “Don’t put on any airs when you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue”? [/QUOTE] There are those who like to think Poe chose the name ‘Morgue’ because of this ambiguity. Perhaps **Mycroft H.** can confirm or deny. Speaking of Mycroft, both his illustrious brother and C. Auguste Dupin featured on Nicaraguan stamps in the early 1970s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-actually-a-rue-morgue-in-paris/457719.md?page=2)