“The list of most endangered historic places looks like America,” says Katherine Malone-France, Chief Preservation Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Above, artist LV Hull (1942-2008) stands on the steps of her home and studio in Kosciusko, Miss., which has been vacant since Hull’s death in 2008.
left: Bruce West right: Yaphet Smith/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
left: Bruce West right: Yaphet Smith/National Trust for Historic Preservation
“It’s very difficult to narrow down the list,” admits Katherine Malone-France, Chief Conservation Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Malone-France, with heavy glasses and a victorious air, is now describing the 11th most endangered historic places in the United States, according to her organization’s annual survey. It relies, she is quick to point out, on nominations from the general public.
The National Trust generated this list since 1988 to draw attention to places in danger of being demolished or irreparably damaged. Sometimes, she says, those places are aesthetically grand. Others are humble in appearance but not in story.
“The list of most endangered historic places looks like America,” says Malone-France. “It tells our stories in layers and interconnected. Each site on it, of course, is a strong place in itself. But I think there are also common themes, like creativity and entrepreneurship, perseverance, cultural exchange . There are sites that are deeply sacred. All sites have multi-generational narratives, and there are sites where descendants are managing the legacies of their ancestors. There are sites that include small villages in rural areas, and there are sites that they include descendants and buildings in big cities and everything in between.”
Seattle Chinatown-International District (CID) is among the oldest Asian American neighborhoods on the West Coast.
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Two of this year’s sites are historic Chinatowns on opposite sides of the country. Philadelphia’s Chinatown dates back to 1871. Seattle’s International Chinatown District cannot be traced to a specific year of origin, but it is one of the oldest Asian-American neighborhoods on the West Coast. Both are centrally located in downtown districts, irresistible to developers in recent decades.
Seattle’s CID has been a battleground between transit advocates bullish about adding a new light rail station to the neighborhood and local activists resistant to redevelopment and gentrification. The neighborhood of the CID remains clarified by the massive addition of highway infrastructure built in the 1960s.
Established in 1871, Philadelphia Chinatown includes more than 40 locally designated historic properties.
National Trust Staff/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
National Trust Staff/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Philadelphia’s Chinatown is currently threatened by a new stadium proposal by the city’s NBA team. The owner of the 76ers wants to build a billion dollar basketball arena on the south end of the neighborhood; local groups oppose the project.
“I’m proud to say I was born and raised in Chinatown,” says John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation. He believes that a new stadium will result in the kind of harmful effects that Other major sports developments wreaked on communities across the country. “This issue raises awareness that these rare communities of color like Chinatown still exist, and the importance of supporting and preserving them,” says Chin. “Chinatown is part of the social fabric of the city’s diversity. It’s got a really significant economic and social reason to exist. Chinatowns across the country play this same role.”
The National Historic Trust’s annual listing has helped save many sites in the past, says chief preservation officer Katherine Malone-France. She points out Camp Naco, in Bisbee, Ariz., as one example. “The camp had been decommissioned in 1923, and faced a number of different challenges: vandalism, exposure, erosion, fire,” she says. “But for the last 20 years, a group of local lawyers has been fighting for this place. We listed on the 2022 listand since then, more than $8 million in grants have been awarded to Camp Naco and the site is now being restored and programmed for community use.”
She says that all these endangered sites are extraordinary places where preservation, she believes, can help build a better future.
Twenty-two log cabins, built for enslaved people, are located on Evergreen Plantation on the West Shore of St. John the Baptist Parish, La.
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
Twenty-two log cabins, built for enslaved people, are located on Evergreen Plantation on the West Shore of St. John the Baptist Parish, La.
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
“The West Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish it’s the last 11 undeveloped miles along the Mississippi River, south of Baton Rouge,” says Malone-France. “It’s a place that’s densely layered in historic sites, in archaeological sites that tell the complete history of this country. It is a place where the descendants of people who were slaves there are fighting for the preservation of its landscape, its villages, its archaeological resources, its culture and its stories. And it is threatened by the construction of a 275-foot grain elevator to store the grain that is sent down the Mississippi.”
Evergreen Plantation, on the West Shore of St. John the Baptist Parish, La., is “densely layered” with historical and archaeological sites that “tell the whole story of this country,” she says. Malone-France.
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
Evergreen Plantation, on the West Shore of St. John the Baptist Parish, La., is “densely layered” with historical and archaeological sites that “tell the whole story of this country,” she says. Malone-France.
Brian M. Davis/Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation
“To lose this place is to lose a history that is important to every single American,” she says. “To lose this place is to lose a piece of ourselves. It is not lost yet. Here we can do things differently.”
And, it adds, in each of the 11 sites on this year’s list. Here are the rest:
Little Santo Domingo, Miami, Fla. “Numerous businesses are located in this corner commercial structure, built in 1920 in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami.”
Allapattah Collaborative CDC/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Allapattah Collaborative CDC/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Holy Aid and Comfort Spiritual Church (also known as Perseverance Benevolent and Mutual Aid Society Hall), New Orleans, La. “Built around 1880 for the Benevolent Perseverance and Mutual Aid Society, this building hosted early performances by jazz pioneers. … Damage from recent hurricanes combined with vandalism has left the structure in a precarious condition. ”
left: National Trust staff right: Williams Research Center of the New Orleans Historic Collection/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
left: National Trust staff right: Williams Research Center of the New Orleans Historic Collection/National Trust for Historic Preservation
The Historic Neighborhoods of Charleston, Charleston, SC “The SC Ports Authority is proposing a major new development at Union Pier, which is part of the Charleston Historic District.”
Vanessa Kauffmann
hide caption
toggle caption
Vanessa Kauffmann
The Historic Neighborhoods of Charleston, Charleston, SC “The SC Ports Authority is proposing a major new development at Union Pier, which is part of the Charleston Historic District.”
Vanessa Kauffmann
Henry O. Tanner House, Philadelphia, Penn. “Built in 1871, this rowhouse in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood was the home of African American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), along with many other members of the Tanner family of significant accomplishments.” On the left, it is seen in 1950.
Left: Justin Spivey/WJE Associates Right: Jack E. Boucher/Library of Congress/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Left: Justin Spivey/WJE Associates Right: Jack E. Boucher/Library of Congress/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Century and Consumers Building, Chicago, Ill. “Two examples of Chicago’s early innovation in skyscraper design are vacant and threatened with demolition: the Consumers Building (left) from 1913 and the neighboring Century Building (right), built in -1915.”
Landmarks Illinois
hide caption
toggle caption
Landmarks Illinois
Osterman Gas Station, Peach Springs, Ariz. “Traffic along Route 66 decreased after the opening of Interstate 40 in 1979.”
Richard Knott/National Trust for Historic Preservation
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Knott/National Trust for Historic Preservation
Pierce Chapel African Cemetery, Midland, Ga. “Established around 1828, the Pierce Chapel African Cemetery is one of the oldest burial grounds for enslaved Africans on various plantations in Harris County, Ga.”
Hamilton Hood Foundation
hide caption
toggle caption
Hamilton Hood Foundation
