Mt Olivet Cemetery

Francis Scott Key Monument

Just inside the front gate of one of Maryland's most beautiful cemeteries, established in 1854, stands an impressive monument dedicated in 1898 to a Washington, D.C. lawyer whose poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been immortalized as the national anthem of the United States. This marks the final resting place of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words while a prisoner of war on a British ship witnessing the siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. However, it wasn't until the 20th century that this powerful poem would be put into music and become a permanent cultural fixture during American sports games.