Tag: Francis Scott Key

American River, American Beer

On By trashonthemonocacyIn Current Events and Issues, Monocacy River1 Comment

 

Or not.

Judging by the trash I gather, Budweiser (and, even more often, Bud Light) is by far the most popular beer consumed along the modest stretch of the Monocacy River that I patrol. The cans are dressed patriotically this summer, the traditional “Budweiser” even sporting the new name “America” through the November election. (You heard about that, right?) The cans even feature the lyrics of “The Star Spangled Banner,” which has special significance in this part of the world, where the author of the lyrics, Francis Scott Key, worked and is buried. (In a curious non sequitor, the local mall and minor league baseball team are named in his honor). Never mind that this all-American beer is now owned by the Belgian company AG Inbev. Free trade, mergers and the vagaries of Capitalism: you can’t get more American than that.

Marquis on the Monocacy

On By trashonthemonocacyIn History, Monocacy River1 Comment

Frederick is full of history, from its Hessian barracks dating to the Revolutionary period, to Francis Scott Key, who wrote the national anthem during the War of 1812, to its Civil War hospitals and battlefields.  Every school child learns about Barbara Fritchie, who, along with Frederick’s “clustered spires,” was made famous by John G. Whittier’s poem about her bold star-spangled flag-waving at Stonewall Jackson when he marched his Confederate troops through town, and it’s hard to miss the multitude of signs and markers commemorating various historical events throughout the county. The Monocacy River is well decorated itself, mostly for its role in the Civil War’s Battle of Monocacy, which “saved” Washington, D.C. by waylaying the Confederacy, but also for another, happier event.

From 1808 to 1942, a stone arch bridge carried the Old National Road (Rte. 40) over the Monocacy River in Frederick, Maryland. On its east end stood a large stone monument shaped like a demijohn, a vessel popularly used for holding bourbon (in fact, there is a rumor that there is an actual demijohn of bourbon inside the monument), which gave the bridge its name, “Jug Bridge.” When the famous Revolutionary War general Marquis de Lafayette came from France to make his popular tour of the United States in 1824, one of his stops was at the Jug Bridge, where he addressed a large crowd of enthusiastic Fredericktonians. After the bridge suddenly collapsed in 1942, the “jug” and a marker commemorating Lafayette’s visit were eventually moved about 2 miles away, to a small park near the Frederick Airport, where the National Road flows into downtown Frederick’s Patrick Street. There have been discussions about moving the monument elsewhere, but I’m glad it’s still not too far from the Monocacy River that inspired it in the first place.

Oh, and it’s quite convenient to the MVA.

 

*If you like humor in your history and are interested in learning more about the Marquis, I highly recommend Sarah Vowell’s Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. Vowell also reported on Lafayette’s 1824 tour of the United States in This American Life’s Episode 291: “Reunited (And It Feels So Good).” You can find it here:

http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/widget/widget.min.js