On September 12, 1839, crowds gathered here to mark the 25th anniversary of the Battle of North Point as officials laid the cornerstone for a memorial to the citizens-soldiers who defended Baltimore against British attack in 1814. Captain Benjamin C. Howard, the keynote speaker, declared that twenty-five years had changed everything except the undying spirit that made people feel that if their country was worth loving, it was worth defending. Dr. Jacob Houck conveyed this site to Maryland for erecting a monument, and the place, known as Battle Acre, became Baltimore County’s first public park. From their position at a log house, the Baltimore Yagers riflemen fired on advancing British troops on September 12, 1814, and the house, which burned during the ensuing battle, stood at the approximate location of today’s Battle Acre Park.