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Be an outsider. Right at the outcropping where the Patuxent River meets the Baltimore Harbor sits a star-shaped fort that had been instrumental in the War of 1812 and which led to the writing of our national anthem.

Many know the story of our national anthem.

Many know the story of how Francis Scott Key was held captive on a British

worship during a long night punctuated by a fiery battle.

When dawn broke, he saw the thrilling sight of the great garrison flag

still flying proudly in full glory over the red brick ramparts of Fort McHenry.

Today a historical replica of the oversized American flag

from the War of 1812 still flies over the ramparts of Garrison. It's a

storied location steeped in the history of a fledgling nation

fighting for its very life in the city where Mary Young Pickers Guild

sowed the immense American flag that inspired Key to write the poem he

titled Defense of Fort McHenry. Later renamed the Star Spangled Banner.

The poem turned song and that particular flag seen by Francis Scott Key at Dawn are

legendary and synonymous with Fort McHenry. The Great Garrison Flag was like no other, at a grand size of 30 by 42 feet, with each striped 2 feet wide and this same measure spanning its 15 stars from point to point.

In the months it took to prepare the city of Baltimore for impending attack during the War of 1812,

the commanding officer, Major George Armsteadad, announced that Fort McHenry would have a flag so large

that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance. Francis Scott Key's lyrical verses described in bold detail the massive flag

surviving the long night's bombardment. The fort carries many other stories, perhaps none more striking than its use for

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