Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine charges $15 per adult for 7-day access, with children under 15 admitted free. The fort's defense during the Battle of Baltimore, a 25-hour British bombardment on September 13-14, 1814, became the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's poem that eventually became the US national anthem. The site was designated a national park in 1925, redesignated National Monument and Historic Shrine, the only site in the country with that specific dual title, in 1939.
A single $15 admission covers a full week, worth returning for a second, unhurried visit within that window rather than trying to see everything in one trip, particularly useful for a longer Baltimore stay.
The Battle of Baltimore's sustained, day-plus assault is the specific event that produced the fort's most famous legacy, a genuinely extended military engagement, not a brief skirmish, and the actual historical event behind the national anthem's origin.
Admission is free for anyone under 15, so a family visit carries a genuine cost savings, since only adult tickets carry the $15 charge.
Fort McHenry sits in Baltimore, Maryland, at the tip of a peninsula in Baltimore's Locust Point neighborhood, easily reached from downtown.
Baltimore rewards understanding the genuinely extended 1814 bombardment behind Fort McHenry's fame and taking advantage of the 7-day ticket validity for a fuller visit. The flag itself, and the actual people who made it, are covered in full below.
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