In late 1795, printer John Gruber moved to Hagerstown, opening a business on the ground now in front of the Maryland Theatre. He began publishing the Hagers-Town Town and Country Almanac in 1797. (Today it is the second oldest almanac in active circulation in the nation.) In 1814, Gruber printed The National Songster, a collection of patriotic songs. Among them was the first book printing of The Defense of Fort McHenry, the poem written by Francis Scott Key as he watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. The title was changed later by a professional singer who selected the words “Star Spangled Banner” from the last line of the song’s first verse. .