America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Since 1988, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has used its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places as a powerful alarm to raise awareness of the serious threats facing the nation’s greatest treasures. It has become one of the most effective tools in the fight to save the country’s irreplaceable architectural, cultural and natural heritage. The list, which has identified 200 sites through 2008, has been so successful in galvanizing preservation efforts across the country and rallying resources to save one-of-a-kind landmarks that, in just two decades, only six sites have been lost.
Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark, while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history.
2009 Nomination Guidelines & Form
2008 List of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
California's State Parks
Sutter's Fort State Park in Sacramento, California. Photo by Robert English. Learn More
Charity Hospital and the Adjacent Neighborhood
Charity Hospital. Photo by Todd Callender. Learn More
Great Falls Portage
Stunning landscape in Great Falls. Photo by Montana Preservation Alliance. Learn More
Michigan Avenue Streetwall
Chicago Cultural Center across from Millenium Park. Photo by Landmarks Illinois. Learn More
Peace Bridge Neighborhood
Family out for a walk in an historic Buffalo neighborhood. Photo by Catherine Schweitzer. Learn More
Peace Bridge Neighborhood
Family out for a walk in an historic Buffalo neighborhood. Photo by Catherine Schweitzer. Learn More
The Lower East Side of New York City
New construction on the Lower East Side. Photo by Kate Stober, Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Learn More
The Statler Hilton Hotel
Neglected interior of the Statler Hilton Hotel. Photo by Jason Grant. Learn More
The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the 2008 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places®, an annual list that highlights important examples of the nation's architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk for destruction or irreparable damage.
The 21st annual list includes: California's State Park System, whose budget has been repeatedly slashed and now faces $1.2 billion in deferred maintenance; Charity Hospital and adjacent neighborhood in New Orleans, where proposed development projects would abandon the currently closed, but reparable hospital, and would demolish 25 blocks with 200 homes to make way for two new hospital complexes; and, New York's Lower East Side, the neighborhood that embodies the history of immigration in America, that is steadily and irrevocably being erased by inappropriate development.
"The 21st annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places includes sites that reflect extraordinary periods of American history," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "These places tell remarkable stories about exploration, immigration, Civil Rights, civic pride and cultural achievement, and our nation cannot afford to lose them along with the stories they tell."
