The Fort as Phat found is Fort McHenry. During the War of 1812 in the year 1814 (no, not the big War of 1812 but the small one after Napolean had been defeated) it was the Fort being bombarded while Francis Scott Key was embargoed on a Truce Vessel off shore and that led him to pen the poem that later became the Star Spangled Banner. The fight at the Fort was spectacular but it was actually a series of almost totally forgotten land battles and a strategic fighting retreat to fortified positions that actually stopped the invasion of Baltimore.
The steps are marble. solid blocks of marble because marble was a cheap, effective way to build low cost steps for row houses. And Saturday mornings was when the marble steps got washed. Not just on this block but all over the city.
The little girl is as mentioned a polio victim, but one of the lucky ones. She might even be able to sit up or walk. But she still needed the respirator to breath and was limited to the length of the hose, so in those ubiquitous pre-TV days the duckies in a bowl of water provided her company and entertainment.
Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!