June 11, 2008
IN BRIEF: TOURISM, FILM AND THE ARTS NEWS

Marylanders celebrate Star-Spangled Banner Trail

A few hundred Marylanders joined a group of Maryland elected officials in the hot sun Monday at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry to celebrate the creation of the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Sen. Ben Cardin, Rep. John Sarbanes, Rep. Steny Hoyer, and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith (pictured l to r) all briefly addressed the crowd.

Continued...
The Star-Spangled Banner Trail spotlights important events from the War of 1812, including the battle at Fort McHenry, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem.

Winding through the state, the trail marks the route of British and American forces on land and by water during the Chesapeake Campaign of 1814. In Calvert County the trail touches where the battles of St. Leonard Creek occurred. It also marks the British landing at Benedict in Charles County, the Battle of Bladensburg in Prince George’s County and the Battle of North Point in Baltimore County.

Creation of the trail will complement the work of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, said Bill Pencek, director of Cultural and Heritage Tourism for the state’s Office of Tourism Development.

The commission will hold its next meeting June 20 in Germantown for stakeholders in Montgomery, Howard, Frederick, Carroll and Washington counties. Contact Bill Pencek for information, 410-767-6289.