During the first challenge along the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTrail, over 400 first edition SSB geocoins were awarded. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTour. We are currently out of geocoins but stay tuned for other opportunities along the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTour! A new challenge with a new prize will be ready in 2015.
Come on a journey to remember and commemorate the dramatic chain of events, people and places that led to the birth of our National Anthem.
The story of the Star-Spangled Banner was shaped by the events of the Chesapeake Campaign during the War of 1812. From February 1813 until February 1815, the Chesapeake Bay was the center of a fierce struggle between the British and Americans. Places and landscapes still exist today that provide a touchstone to the past. The trail traces events and related sites that figured prominently in the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812 that have national significance, physical integrity, and the potential for contemporary recreation and interpretation.
Parkers Creek Watershed Nature Preserve is one of the last remaining pristine watersheds on the western shore of the Chesapeake. It is one of the few places that still resemble the landscape of the early 19th century, when the British were on the move up and down the Bay in the midst of the Chesapeake Campaign. An especially impressive sight would have come in early September 1814, when the British fleet, having rendezvoused at the mouth of the Potomac, sailed past the creek’s mouth on their way north to the Battle of Baltimore.
The nearby town of Prince Frederick also suffered during the conflict. As described in the soon to be released book, The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Reference Guide to Historic Sites in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the British raided the community in July 1814. During a night attack, troops burned the Calvert County court house and jail and destroyed a tobacco warehouse. A British account of the assault by Captain Joseph Nourse notes that an African American man was released from the jail, having been imprisoned for attempting to escape to the British. The Prince Frederick assault was part of a series of quick hit and run raids up and down the Patuxent that Nourse led between July 16 -21. This created panic in the countryside as fear of more British attacks grew. As quoted in Flotilla: The Patuxent Naval Campaign in the War of 1812, Commodore Joshua Barney commented, “The people are all frightened out of their senses running around the country like so many mad people.”
Today, Parkers Creek Watershed Nature Preserve is comprised of 3,000 acres, conserved and managed by the American Chestnut Land Trust. There are more than 15 miles of trails that take visitors through hardwood forests, farmland, wetlands, salt marshes and along the creek itself. The trails are open daily from dawn to dusk with no fee. Advance permission is required for the Warriors Rest area of the preserve. Guided canoe trips are offered throughout the year and reservations can be made through the American Chestnut Land Trust.
This traditional cache is located on the beautiful American Chestnut Land Trust Property(ACLT) which protects over 3,000 acres of wetlands, forest and farmland in rapidly developing Calvert County, Maryland.
Thanks to Redlights for helping with this hide and the Maryland Geocaching Society for assisting with this project!