Francis Scott Key Memorial Park

Francis Scott Key Memorial Park, a sub unit of Rock Creek Park, is a small inner city park located at the corner of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and M Street in Georgetown. For those not up on American history, Key was the author of the Star Spangled Banner, the poem that was later set to music and became the national anthem of the United States. When he wrote the poem he lived in a house that stood within a hundred yards of the park. The house was dismantled in 1947 to make way for the Whitehurst Freeway and was supposed to be reassembled at another location, but the pieces were never properly secured—the bricks of the house were actually piled at the new location and left sitting out in the open—and much of the materials were stolen by souvenir hunters.

The park consists of a flower garden, a bust of Key, and a few information panels. There are no activities other than sitting around and relaxing on the benches. Most people pass right on through on their way to someplace else.

Bust of Francis Scott Key