Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry is a star-shaped brick fort on a peninsula in Baltimore Harbour, most famous as the site of the bombardment that inspired the American national anthem. The fort is a National Monument and Historic Shrine, one of only two sites in the US to hold that designation, and the setting — surrounded by water on three sides, with views back to downtown Baltimore — adds to the sense of occasion.

The museum inside is well done, covering both the 1814 battle and the fort's later history as a Civil War prison and immigrant processing facility. The grounds are freely explorable, and the grassy interior of the star fort is excellent for a picnic. Get there early on summer weekends — it draws crowds. Accessible by water taxi from the Inner Harbor, which adds to the experience.

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A story
On the night of September 13–14, 1814, Francis Scott Key watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry from a truce ship in the harbour. After 25 hours of shelling — 1,500 bombs and rockets — the fort still stood and the American flag was still flying. Key wrote the poem that became "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the back of a letter that morning. The original flag that flew that night is now in the Smithsonian in Washington.

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