11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Prairie Churches of North Dakota
Year Listed: 2001
Location: North Dakota
Significance
Were it not for the prairie church, the vast North Dakota landscape would stretch unbroken to the horizon. Often founded by first-generation settlers from Germany, Poland, Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia, the simple prairie church was usually the first building to go up when a town was settled - and the last to close its doors if the community died out. But now many of these buildings are threatened. Of North Dakota's 2,000 church structures, more than 400 are vacant and threatened by inadequate maintenance and demolition.
