Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine
City of Baltimore, Maryland

Three bronze monuments at Fort McHenry were provided conservation treatment in 2000 through a cooperative agreement between the Monuments Commission and the National Park Service. Near the gate to the fort stands the 22' high bronze statue of the Greek hero Orpheus, upon a marble pedestal 15' high and decorated with a carved portrait of Francis Scott Key and a procession of muses. The monument, by sculptor Charles H. Niehaus, was dedicated in 1922 to Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, and the soldiers and sailors who took part in the Battle of North Point and the defense of the fort during the War of 1812. The monument to Col. George Armistead, the commander of the fort, was dedicated in 1914 during the Centennial celebration of the writing of the National Anthem. This life-sized statue by sculptor Edward Berge stands outside the visitors' center. A bronze portrait tablet of Francis Scott Key, by sculptor Hans Schuler and also dedicated in 1914, hangs on the brick wall of the fort. The Commission and the Park worked together to design the conservation treatment, which provided cleaning and wax coating of the bronzes and repointing of the marble and granite pedestals. The Park has placed the monument on a routine maintenance schedule.