Key House
Former house in Washington, D.C. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Key House, also referred to as the Key Mansion, was the Washington, D.C., home of lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key from 1805 to 1830. He and his wife raised their eleven children while living there. In September 1814, Key left this house to retrieve a kidnapped doctor during the War of 1812. After securing the release, he was kept on a British ship and witnessed the Battle of Baltimore, including the bombardment of Fort McHenry. That is what inspired him to write a poem, "Defence of Fort M'Henry", that would later be expanded and turned into the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".
The Key House was built in 1795 by a real estate developer and merchant. At the time the house was located on Bridge Street, since renamed M Street, and included thick walls, long hallways, two parlors, and six bedrooms, in addition to the kitchen and dining room. The Keys moved once the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was built directly behind their house, although Francis continued using the one-story addition as office space. The house later became a hotel and restaurant, then a string of commercial enterprises, including a blacksmith shop, and a dry-goods store. With the construction of the Georgetown Car Barn across the street, the area around the house rapidly developed.
In the early 1900s, a group of historic preservationists which included Admiral George Dewey, purchased the house so that it could be turned into a museum honoring Key. The museum only remained open for a few years before it was sold and drastically altered. The gabled roof and chimneys were removed, in addition to other modifications. Many people thought the original house had been demolished and replaced with a new building. When the Key Bridge opened in 1923, it was apparent the house might not survive.
The Columbia Historical Society and other concerned citizens tried to preserve the house when it was announced an exit ramp from the Whitehurst Freeway to the Key Bridge would mean the Key House would be demolished. Ideas to preserve the building included disassembling it and moving the house to a new location. This was eventually done when government officials said the house would be demolished. The National Park Service was responsible for transporting what was left from the original house, but during the next several decades, all of the items were either used in other buildings or stolen. In 1993, the Francis Scott Key Memorial opened near the Key House site.