The most famous flag in American history was sewn in a Baltimore brick house — by hand, in six weeks, too big to finish indoors. Mary Young Pickersgill, a professional flag maker, her daughter Caroline, her nieces and Grace Wisher, a young African American indentured apprentice, completed the 30-by-42-foot garrison flag for Fort McHenry in the summer of 1813, laying it out in a nearby malt house when it outgrew the rooms.
The Flag House — Pickersgill’s 1793 home at 844 East Pratt Street — preserves her story beside the fort’s: the flag that survived the 1814 bombardment and became the national anthem. Exhibits trace the flag’s making, the family’s business and the flag’s journey to the Smithsonian, where the original now rests.
The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House is open for tours in Jonestown, a short walk from the Inner Harbor. Hours at flaghouse.org.
