Marylanders are justifiably proud of everything associated with the Star-Spangled Banner, the famous flag that signaled the British Royal Navy’s 1814 defeat at Fort McHenry. Millions of people visit the National Museum of American History each year to see this iconic flag.
To understand the Star-Spangled Banner’s entire story, however, you’ll need to visit Baltimore’s Star-Spangled Banner Flag House. This brick residence in Baltimore was the home of Mary Young Pickersgill, the second-generation flag maker and business owner who created the Star-Spangled Banner for Major George Armistead, Fort McHenry’s commander.
The Star-Spangled Banner
This flag was designed to be legendary. In 1813, Major Armistead ordered a garrison flag so large that the British would be able to see it from far away. The finished garrison flag would be 30 feet high and 42 feet long and weigh 50 pounds. It was heavy enough to snap the fort’s flagpole in a high wind, so Armistead also ordered a smaller storm flag. Pickersgill and her team set to work and finished both flags in a short time, approximately six to eight weeks. The U.S. Army paid Pickersgill $574.44 for the flags.
The following September, the British Royal Navy arrived in Baltimore, intending to secure Fort McHenry and help the British Army capture the city of Baltimore. The British were unable to take the fort. Armistead’s soldiers raised their enormous garrison flag the morning after the battle as a victory signal. The flag inspired American lawyer Francis Scott Key to write a poem about the battle, which he witnessed from the deck of a British ship. Key’s poem, set to music, eventually became the U.S. national anthem.
Who Was Mary Pickersgill?
Mary Young Pickersgill was born in Philadelphia in 1776. When she was two years old, her father died. Her mother, Rebecca Flower Young, was now a widow with five children, so her brother encouraged her to get into the military supply business. She successfully procured musket balls, shirts, and other items for the Continental Army. Young’s main military product, however, was military flags, including garrison flags. Young’s daughter, Mary, helped her mother make flags and learned how to run a successful business.
Mary Young married John Pickersgill in 1795. In 1805, John Pickersgill died, leaving Mary to raise their daughter, Caroline. Mary Young Pickersgill did what her mother had done — she moved to Maryland in 1807, rented a house on Queen Street (now Pratt Street) a short distance from the home her sister and nieces shared, and opened a flag making shop. Pickersgill also took in boarders from time to time. Her business was so successful that she was eventually able to buy her rented home, today’s Star-Spangled Banner Flag House.
When Major Armistead’s order for the garrison flag and storm flag arrived, Pickersgill got to work. Her daughter, Caroline, who was 13 years old, helped, as did her two teenage nieces. Perhaps her mother, Rebecca Young, who now lived with Pickersgill, worked on the flags, but there are no records of this. Pickersgill’s 13-year-old free African American indentured servant, Grace Wisher, also helped with the project.
When Caroline married John Purdy in 1817, Pickersgill apparently closed down her flag making business. Purdy, an iron merchant, was the official head of the household on Pratt Street until his death in 1837.
Mary Pickersgill’s household often included enslaved people, although it is unclear whether this was the case in 1813. The 1810 federal census shows that one enslaved person lived in the Flag House during that year; the census taker did not record that person’s name, gender, or age. In 1820, according to the federal census, one free African American woman lived in the household. Later records show that between one and four enslaved people were part of Pickersgill’s household from 1830 onward. Pickersgill died in 1857 and bequeathed four enslaved people to her daughter, Caroline Pickersgill Purdy. All four achieved freedom in 1864 under the new state constitution.
Pickersgill knew what it was like to be a single mother with a family to support. Perhaps this is why she, her sister, and her daughter joined the Impartial Female Humane Society, a charity dedicated to helping impoverished Baltimore women find work and caring for older women who had no relatives to help them. Pickersgill served as the Society’s president for 23 years. In 1851, the Society opened the Aged Women’s Home in Baltimore to house elderly widows. Pickersgill and her daughter served as Lady Managers of the Home. The Aged Women’s Home and the Aged Men’s Home merged in 1959, moved to Towson, and became the Pickersgill Retirement Community.
Mary Pickersgill died in 1857. Baltimore’s most famous flag maker, her daughter, Caroline, and her son-in-law, John, are buried in Baltimore’s Loudoun Park Cemetery.
Visiting the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House
Your Star-Spangled Banner Flag House self-guided tour will begin with a video about Mary Pickersgill and the flag that made her famous. Spend some time in the informative museum before you tour the house.
The Flag House is furnished as it might have looked when Mary Pickersgill worked on the Star-Spangled Banner. Her original desk is in the front room, which would have been her public business office. Some of Pickersgill’s personal possessions are on display, too.
If You Go
The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House
844 E. Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 837-1793
Admission: Adults $9, senior citizens and military members $8, students $7. Children ages 5 and under enter free of charge.
Hours: The Flag House is open 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The museum is closed on certain Saturdays; check the website for dates.
Parking: Limited pay parking is available on Albemarle Street. There are several parking garages within walking distance; reserve a spot online with Parking.com or SpotHero to save money.
By Nancy Parode