Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in the Chesapeake Bay. It was during this bombardment of the fort that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write "The Star Spangled Banner," the poem that would eventually be set to the tune of the The Anacreontic Song, to become the national anthem of the United States.
The fort was made a national park in 1925; on August 11, 1939, it was redesignated a National Monument and Historic Shrine, the only such doubly designated place in the United States. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It has become national tradition that when a new flag is designed it first flies over Fort McHenry. The first official 49 and 50 star American flags were flown over the fort and are still located on the premises.
Threatened by war with either England or France, the Federal government, aided by local citizenry, erected this fort between 1794 and 1803 on Whetstone Point, where it could command the entrance to Baltimore harbor. It replaced an 18-gun fort, known as Fort Whetstone, which was erected on the site in 1776. The new fort was one in a series of fortifications constructed for the defense of the eastern coast. Despite the loss of integrity of the surrounding site and modifications of individual buildings and structures, Fort McHenry's extant resources continue to embody a high degree of integrity reflecting the fort's national importance as a coastal defense work from the period of its initial construction (1794-1802) to the end of improvements constructed immediately following the Civil War. After this time, Fort McHenry functioned primarily as a garrison until its closure in 1912, later serving in various capacities that included World War I hospital and World War II Coast Guard training facility. The broad significance of the fort is recognized as encompassing these and other later periods. However, the primary physical expression of the fort in its capacity as a coastal defense work is best reflected in the resources constructed between approximately 1800 and 1867.
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to The Glacial Drumlin Trail office in Lake Mills, of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/hiding