• The Star-Spangled Banner flying over Tangier Island, VA.

    Star-Spangled Banner

    National Historic Trail DC, MD, VA

O! Say Can You See?  . . . The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake

For three years the young United States was embroiled in the War of 1812 and the Chesapeake Bay region felt the brunt of it, choked by shipping blockades and ravaged by enemy raids. Through sites and landscapes in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and throughout Maryland, the Trail tells the stories of the events, people, and places that led to the birth of our National Anthem. 

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Features

  • Defender's Day at North Point State Park

    Your Guide to the Trail

    Your handy Pocket Guide to the trail is hot off the presses! Download your copy here and look for it wherever you see a trail sign.

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  • Chesapeake Explorer screenshot

    Chesapeake Explorer - This App's For You!

    The Chesapeake Explorer mobile app helps you get to over 400 Chesapeake places including the Trail, heritage sites, and state and national parks. FREE

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  • Gerry Embleton image of Mary Pickersgill sewing the flag, from the book In Full Glory Reflected

    Read All About It

    History and Travel Guide now available -- In Full Glory Reflected: Discovering the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake. Go to www.starspangledtrail.net.

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  • Earn this coin by caching the SSB Geotrail

    Star-Spangled Treasures

    The SSB Geotrail offers fun and adventure at nearly 40 geocache sites highlighting Chesapeake landscapes and stories associated with the War of 1812.

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Did You Know?

The white house burned Washington, D.C. in 1814.

The British burned the White House in 1814. Only a shell survived, and reconstruction was not completed until 1818.