It Happened Here

Literary Washington
It Happened Here: Oh Say Can You See?

By Yana Ginsberg, WIW Member

Francis Scott Key, the poet who penned the U.S. national anthem was a long-time Georgetown resident, but his home, located at 3518 M St. N.W., was torn down around 1948 for construction of the Key Bridge.

Key lived in Georgetown between 1804 and 1833, with his wife Mary and their six sons and five daughters. A lawyer and amateur poet, Key witnessed the British invasion and destruction of Washington during the summer of 1814.

After the burning of Washington, D.C., Americans expected the British to attack Baltimore, where U.S. forces were hunkered down at the star-shaped Fort McHenry. As the battle for Baltimore broke out in September 1814, Key was on a mission to negotiate the release of his friend, Dr. William Beanes, who was being held captive aboard a British flagship.

Unable to get back to shore, Key and his fellow negotiators were forced to watch the bombardment of Baltimore from behind enemy lines. According to history, they knew that as long as the shelling between the British fleet and the fort continued, not all was lost.

As they waited through the night, the fighting suddenly stopped. Anxiously awaiting daylight, Key hoped to catch glimpse of a sign that Fort McHenry had not surrendered. That sign was a 30-foot-by-42-foot American flag, specially commissioned by fort commander Major George Armistead.

As daylight broke, Key saw a welcome sight. The flag was still there. Inspired, he began to write what would ultimately become the national anthem, adopted in 1931. Originally, the complete poem was four paragraphs long, but we only sing the first one, proof that everyone is edited.

Key also lived briefly at a house in southeastern Washington, D.C., called the Maples, located at 630 South Carolina Ave, S.E.. Architect-builder William Lovering built this historic property in 1798 during the Federal period. Today that home houses the Friendship House Association, a community organization founded in 1904 to address economic, education and community development in the neighborhoods surrounding the nation's Capitol. Friendship House moved into the Maples in 1936. Its official address is 619 D. St., S.E.

"It Happened Here" will highlight different writing-related locations through the D.C.-metro area. If you have suggestions for locations, please send them to the editor.