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Betsy Ross painting finds new home in Pa.'s State Museum.
Byline: Amy Worden
HARRISBURG, Pa._Philadelphia may have been home to America's most famous flagmaker, but the massive painting that made Betsy Ross a household name will be permanently ensconced at a museum here 80 miles away.
As legend has it, the 24-year-old Ross stitched together the first flag of the fledgling nation. She might have remained just another hardworking seamstress lost to history had Philadelphia artist Charles H. Weisgerber not discovered her more than a century later.
In 1892 Weisgerber was walking the streets trying to come up with a subject for a painting contest when he noticed a small plaque on the side of a cigar store at 239 Arch St. identifying the building as the place site of the flag's creation.
Bingo.
Weisgerber decided to recreate the historic scene in Ross's upholstery shop circa 1776, based on the recollections of her daughters. On the 9 x 12 canvas that emerged, …
