The flag that inspired America’s national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was sewn in a small brick house in Baltimore City—and that building still stands.
The Flag House dates back to 1793 and was the home and place of business of Mary Young Pickersgill. Starting in 1807 when Pickersgill and her mother, Rebecca and her daughter, Caroline moved into the house to reestablish the flag making business that Rebecca Young started in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.
It is in this house that Mary, with her family and assistants, sewed the massive 42 foot by 30 foot American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key’s famous poem.
The Fort McHenry flag, photographed in Boston in 1873.
For its preservation, the house was purchased by the City of Baltimore in 1927 and is now operated as The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House—an historic site and museum. Recently, the Flag House was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is has engaged Encore Sustainable Designs to repair and replace exterior features of the historic Pickersgill House.