Maryland National Heritage Areas (Non-Units)

10/19/2016 First stop – Star-Spangled Flag House NHL, on the Star-Spangled Banner NHT [MD] and part of the Baltimore NHA (other sites noted below as BNHA). This was the home of Mary Pickersgill when she moved to Baltimore in 1806, and the location where she sewed the "Star Spangled Banner," the garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry. We watched a short film and checked out the small museum, then took a cell phone tour of the house where the Fort McHenry SSB flag was sewn. From there to the Phoenix Shot Tower NHL (BNHA). In 1828 the tallest structure in the U.S., it was used to manufacture short by dropping molten lead into water. Struggled a little to get good photos of the tall structure, then continued to the Peale Museum NHL (BNHA). Opening in 1786, this was the first building in the Western Hemisphere to be designed and built specifically as a museum.

The Flag House ...

... and Museum

Info on the SSB Trail ...

... and the logo

What it might have looked like

Inside the House

The other side

Phoenix Shot Tower

Peale Museum

10/20/2016 H. L. Mencken House (BNHA) The Italianate brick row house was the 1883-1956 home of the Baltimore Sun journalist and author. Edgar Allan Poe House (BNHA) The home, owned by his Aunt, of the writer from 1833 to 1835. B&O Transportation Museum and Mount Clare Station (BNHA) Located in the B&O Railroad's old Mount Clare Station and roundhouse, the site of the first regular railroad passenger service, the museum houses a significant collection of railroad treasures. After some souvenir shopping, we looked through the museum housed in the old roundhouse - lots of beautiful engines and rolling stock. We then boarded a B&O train for a trip down the first mile of railroad in the U.S., which continued to Wheeling. This half-hourish ride was seriously whelming, with not much to be seen. First Unitarian Church (BNHA) Dedicated in 1818, the domed cube church was the first building erected for Unitarians in the U.S. Minor Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BNHA) The Latrobe-design cathedral was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the U.S. We took some time here for a self-guided tour of the basilica, including the below-ground crypts and chapel – a magnificent place.

H. L. Mencken House

Edgar Allan Poe House

B&O Transportation Museum and Mount Clare Station

Some of the many trains ...

... in the roundhouse

Roundhouse roof (and me)

First Stone on the First Mile

Our ride

First Unitarian Church ...

... and sign

Facade detail

Minor Basilica

Main aisle ...

and detailed dome

Votive candles

One of the lower chapels

National Heritage Areas (Non-Units) - Maryland