On March 3, 1931, The Star Spangled Banner, a poem written by Frederick County native Francis Scott Key as "The Defence of Ft. McHenry," which had been set to the music of a popular English drinking song, was approved by Congress as the National Anthem of The United States of America.

Everyone knows the story of how Frederick County native son, Francis Scott Key, while a captive of the British during the War of 1812, wrote the words to The Star-Spangled Banner on the back of a letter he found in his pocket after witnessing the bombardment of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. But few know that Key had used the music we so well recognize today for many poems during his lifetime.

The first recorded usage by Key was in December 1805 when he wrote a poem and sang it himself - despite the fact he was tone deaf - to this same tune in Georgetown in honor of Stephen Decatur.

The tune first appeared in England in 1775, when it was used by a group of music lovers as their organization's song. In America the song was parodied frequently and it appeared in collections of music as early as the 1790s.

By the time Key wrote his stirring words, the tune was common property. Key's poem was printed by several newspapers within a week of his writing in September 1814, and as the years passed, the song with Key's words was performed whenever an anthem was required at patriotic functions.

In the 1890s Army and Navy regulations required its use. However, many sessions of Congress killed countless bills which would have made Key's words, and the music to which he set it, our national anthem.

Finally on March 3, 1931, the Seventy-First Congress passed Public Law 823. Its' single sentence reads: "Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the composition consisting of the words and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America." President Herbert Hoover signed the measure on March 4, 1931.

Frederick has had its share of spectacular fires during its 253-year history. One of the biggest occurred March 10, 1941, when the Central Trust Bank Building burned.

The bank had closed during the Depression and its building, on the northeast corner of East Church and North Market streets, had been rented as offices.

When Fred Delauter, the night watchman, left the building at 2:30 a.m., he was unaware of any fire. Charles Rumpf, a News-Post carrier, noticed smoke coming from the second floor windows of the four story structure at about 4 A.M., as he went to pickup his papers for morning delivery.

He ran to the Independent Hose Company, a half block away, and sounded the alarm. Firefighters from all city companies and four county departments fought the flames throughout the morning.

During the height of the fire the roof and the fourth and third floors collapsed onto the second floor. Market Street was closed to traffic from the Square Corner to Second Street. At one point, 16 streams of water were directed at the flames. The water pressure dropped and city officials had to open the valves on Linganore Creek supply lines to feed the hydrants.

The Eisenhauer Building next door suffered little damage. Frederick Mayor Lloyd C. Culler, the president of Culler Construction, had built the building for the bank in 1911. Manuel E. Weinberg, his wife, and Kate Sherby were the owners of the property. The Frederick Housing Authority, a dentist, an insurance company, a credit investigator, and a beauty shop were the occupants at the time of the fire.

Many residents today remember that People Drug Store occupied the first floor of the building for many years in the '40s, '50, and '60s.

Frederick has been blessed with outstanding medical men and facilities throughout its long and glorious history. In the 20th century, one physician stands out, not only for his ministrations to the health of his patients, but also for his contributions to the well-being of his community.

Ulysses Grant Bourne was born in Calvert County on March 17, 1873. Shortly after graduating from the Leonard Medical College in Raleigh, N.C., and receiving his license to practice in Maryland, he came to Frederick and established a general practice at the southeast corner of West All Saints and Ice Streets. He would remain there for more than 50 years, retiring in 1953.

His activities were widespread and not confined solely to medicine. He, with Hugh Donald Bayton, a local businessman, and Charles Pindell, principal at the Lincoln School, established the local chapter of the National Association For The Advancement of Colored People in 1931. He was also an active member and leader at Asbury Methodist Church.

He founded the Maryland Negro Medical Society and was its first president. In 1919, he and Dr. Charles S. Brooks established a 15-bed hospital at 173 West All Saints Street, where the Elks Lodge is today. Frederick City Hospital, at the time, did not admit Negroes.

In 1928 when the hospital opened a wing for blacks through the generosity of Joseph Dill Baker, Dr. Bourne closed his hospital.

On Primary Election Day - May 7, 1928 - Mrs. Vivian Holland Lee went into labor. But Dr. Bourne couldn't be found because he was out campaigning for a seat in the House of Delegates.

When he finally arrived at the Lee home, Mrs. Lee's mother, Mrs. Bertha Holland, chided him by saying, "This is a fine way to treat my daughter. And I took time out today to vote for you."

Dr. Bourne chuckled as he helped Mrs. Lee deliver her son, who would become an educator and Frederick City Alderman - William O. Lee, Jr.

Dr. Bourne died at Frederick Memorial Hospital July 15, 1956. He was 83.

Before the Civil Rights movement allowed Frederick's black population to use the facilities established for its white residents, Negroes provided for themselves with grocery stores, a movie theater, clothing stores, and even a public library of sorts

On March 27, 1913, Clifford Holland, a local remodeling contractor in the colored community, opened the Young Men's Colored Reading Club of Frederick at 113 Ice Street, in the home of the Reverend Ignatius Snowden, a local evangelist. Previously there had not been a local library facility which allowed Negroes entrance.

The library worked a little differently from the way they are operate today. The men would borrow a book and read it. Each week they would gather at 113 Ice Street and discuss with each other the material they had read during the past week.

As was the practice through most of this century, Negro businesses were usually located in the first room off the street of a residential property. The family occupied the rest of the property as their home.

The colored library was no exception. Holland lived at 116 West All Saints Street and for a time operated a small grocery store there in addition to his contracting business. He later ran a similar store on the northeast corner of West All Saints and South Court Street, where Lee's MenÕs Wear was located for many years in mid-century.

He was a deacon at First Missionary Baptist Church and was Worshipful Master of Fredericktonian Lodge Number 12. He served the Knights of Pythias as a member for most of his adult life.

His interest in reading never faded. In his later years he would sit at his dining room table and read three or four newspapers late into every evening and eat peanuts. He would retire in the wee hours of the morning and seldom arise before noon.