Barracks No. 1

Barracks No. 1 on a sunny day.

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Baltimore, MD

Significance:

One of the buildings that housed enlisted men stationed at Fort McHenry.

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Amenities

8 listed

Accessible Rooms, Accessible Sites, Benches/Seating, Captioned Media, Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Theater/Auditorium, Wheelchair Accessible

Barracks No. 1 was used to house enlisted men. One room was for non-commissioned officers (corporals and sergeants), perhaps a second for musicians and artificers (skilled military craftsmen). The remaining room was for privates. At the time of the War of 1812 the building was one story, with a second story added in the 1830s. 

Today the building has three museum exhibits ont he first floor. The room to the left is the timeline room featuring an overview of of the entire history of Fort McHenry from its predesessor during the American Revolution, through the Second World War. The middle room features an exhibit on the Battle of North Point which took place just before the bombardment of the fort in 1814. And the room on the right features replica barracks to get a sense of what it would have been like to live in the fort as an enlisted man in 1814.