Your tour arrives at one of the oldest historical societies in the United States, home to an extraordinary collection of Maryland and American material culture. The Maryland Historical Society was founded in 1844 by a group of Baltimore civic leaders who recognized that the documents and artifacts of Maryland's history were in danger of being lost, sold, or destroyed. Maryland's history was exceptional — it was the fourth colony established, founded in 1634 as a refuge for English Catholics, and the birthplace of American religious toleration through the 1649 Toleration Act.
The Society's collection includes the original manuscript of The Star-Spangled Banner — Francis Scott Key's handwritten draft of the poem he wrote while watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. That manuscript is one of the most important documents in American history, and it lives here, not in Washington. The collection also includes one of the largest concentrations of Colonial and Federal-period American silver, an extraordinary collection of Maryland portraits, the records of Maryland's colonial and state government, and thousands of maps, photographs, and artifacts documenting every aspect of Maryland life from the seventeenth century forward.
The museum galleries occupy a suite of nineteenth-century buildings on Maryland Avenue. The library and manuscript room draw researchers from around the world.