Downtown in Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Inspired Words
Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
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War of 1812
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Photographed by Don Morfe, December 20, 2014
1. Inspired Words Marker
Inscription.
Inspired Words. Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. After 10 harrowing days aboard ship and witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key spent his first night ashore at the Indian Queen Tavern, September 16-17, 1814. The inn operated at this site until the 1830s.
Moved by what he had experienced two days earlier, Key used his time here to complete four stanzas for what would become American’s national anthem. First Printing-Key’s manuscript first appeared as a handbill September 17. Since newspapers were suspended while pressmen helped defend the city, a teenaged apprentice set the type. The Baltimore Patriot was the first newspaper to publish Key’s lyrics when it resumed operation September 20.
(Inscription beside the manuscript photo on the right) , Key’s handwritten text for the “Star-Spangled Banner” is at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. Image/Courtesy Maryland Historical Society.
“…the song, written the night after we got back to Baltimore, in the hotel…at the corner of Hanover and Market streets, was…a versified and almost literal transcript of our…hopes and apprehensions.” , Eyewitness John Stuart Skinner (recounted in 1849)
After 10 harrowing days aboard ship and witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key spent his first night ashore at the Indian Queen Tavern, September 16-17, 1814. The inn operated at this site until the 1830s.
Moved by what he had experienced two days earlier, Key used his time here to complete four stanzas for what would become American’s national anthem.
First Printing-Key’s manuscript first appeared as a handbill September 17. Since newspapers were suspended while pressmen helped defend the city, a teenaged apprentice set the type. The Baltimore Patriot was the first newspaper to publish Key’s lyrics when it resumed operation September 20.
(Inscription beside the manuscript photo on the right) Key’s handwritten text for the “Star-Spangled Banner” is at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. Image/Courtesy Maryland Historical Society.
“…the song, written the night after we got back to Baltimore, in the hotel…at the corner of Hanover and Market streets, was…a versified and almost literal transcript of our…hopes and apprehensions.” Eyewitness John Stuart Skinner (recounted in 1849)
Erected by National
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Park Service-United States Department of the Interior.
Location. 39° 17.352′ N, 76° 36.984′ W. Memorial is in Baltimore, Maryland. It is in Downtown. It is on Hopkins Plaza-West Baltimore Street. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Baltimore MD 21201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Central Maryland. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic, in the Chesapeake Bay Region, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line);
Another marker is no longer nearby. Joshua Johnson (was here, next to this marker but has been confirmed missing).
Photographed by Don Morfe, July 26, 2014
3. Francis Scott Key Monument-Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Frederick MD
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, August 6, 2016
4. By the Dawn's Early Light
This 1912 painting by Edward Percy Moran hangs in the Flag House Museum.
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, August 6, 2016
5. John Stuart Skinner
“…the song, written the night after we got back to Baltimore, in the hotel…at the corner of Hanover and Market streets, was…a versified and almost literal transcript of our…hopes and apprehensions.”
Eyewitness John Stuart Skinner (recounted in 1849)
Library of Congress
6. Star Spangled Banner Original Manuscript
Key’s handwritten text for the “Star-Spangled Banner” is at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 17, 2020. It was originally submitted on December 23, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,079 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on December 23, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 4, 5, 6. submitted on December 17, 2016, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
