MD Fort McHenry National Monument: A City Walk

 #39 2022 52-Hike Challenge: Fort McHenry National Monument - 2 miles

I wanted to include an urban hike/walk in this year's Hike Challenge so I chose Fort McHenry National Monument in the pouring rain. I had the whole place to myself save for two park rangers. Considering the bombardment of the port city fort occurred on a rainy night, September 13-14, 1814, it gave me a chance to imagine what that turning point in the War of 1812 must have been like for the soldiers and sailors stationed there.

Battlement path

Between the sea wall path (1 mile) and walking paths inside and around the fort I was able to log just under two miles so I backtracked a little and visited with the Baltimore City fireboat John Frazier. It was pouring the whole time, so ducking back into the Visitors Center was a welcome reprieve for a walk thru of the excellent museum. 

Dock entrance

Street entrance

There are two entrances to the park, one by water at the dock and one on Fort Avenue. A friend of mine who lives near the fort says that in good weather the park is loaded with people and dogs and dodge ball teams and kite flyers and fort visitors. It seemed eerie not to see another soul on this urban walk, though. With the heavy rain I could just make out the Key Bridge in the distance, built over the place where Francis Scott Key on his diplomatic mission ship witnessed the battle from the water. 

Gun battery and the Key Bridge (barely visible)

Ravelin battery 

Pouring rain on the battery walk

The story of the fort and it's vital defense of the port city of Baltimore is well told on the National Park Website (see Notes) so I won't repeat it here except to say that since I have been here years ago as a student I was very impressed with changes to its history education as told inside the fort's buildings across various displays and historic recreations. 

Fort entrance

Recreation of an officers quarters

Much needed attention is now paid to the complicated histories of slavery and the enslaved soldier as well as the critical role of Free Black soldiers in the city's defense against British assault and invasion by land and sea. Wealth and class played a role in leadership as did how officers were made and/or trained. When I was here in my school days we learned mostly about Francis Scott Key and the famous song that became our national anthem and that was about it. Now the tapestry of history surrounding this fort is rich and detailed and even covers the decades after the War of 1812 to include the WWI surgical hospital that was built here. 

WWI Army Hospital 

WWI Surgical Center with Fort McHenry inside

As I whipped around the walkways for a second time trying to make it to 2 miles, I was lost deep in thought about the WWI Army Hospital that was built here. No trace of the sprawling hospital remains today. I wondered whether my own grandfather who was from Baltimore and wounded in France was brought here for respiratory therapy, one of the specialties of this facility at the time, though it was known most famously for its work in facial reconstruction and ground-breaking work in plastic surgery. 

Bombs bursting in air

I didn't stay lost in my thoughts for long however as a hard rain began to fall and I made a run for the Visitor's Center! I checked my AllTrails and saw that I had just completed 2 miles so called it a day. The ranger at the desk (who I think has been here since I was in middle school) told me about a park assessment study for outlying sites that were critical to the British land invasion just before the fort was bombarded. Now I have another cool site to visit that I didn't know was out there but I am not going alone because he said its really spooky (abandoned/trashed/weird people hanging around).

Inside! Out of the rain!

Notes:

Fort McHenry National Monument an Historic Shrine website has a robust series of pages under "Learn About the Park" that includes a bit about its life as a U.S. Army Hospital during WWI. 

Medicine in Maryland includes some good photographs of General Army Hospital No. 2 (1917-1922)

The Army Hospital and Spanish Flu epidemic. Baltimore Sun, (Sept. 20, 2018) "When World War I and the Spanish Flu turned Fort McHenry into one the country's largest hospitals."