List of threatened historic sites in the United States
This article provides a List of threatened historic sites in the United States. A site is deemed historic if it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places or an official State or Local landmark list. While there are many historic places in the U.S. that are not listed in an official government listing of landmarks, the purpose of this article is to report threats only to government-listed landmarks. A site is deemed threatened for this article if there is verifiable information that it is threatened. Documentation may include:
- credible reports in publications, including news articles
- listing on various watch organizations' lists
United States sites which are both historic and threatened
- Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana were heavily damaged in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They are forts that were battlegrounds in the American Civil War and are National Historic Landmarks. Both are listed by the Civil War Preservation Trust in 2006 as among the Top 10 Endangered Civil War Battlefields.[1][2]
- Great Falls Portage, a National Historic Landmark site in Montana, is threatened by an electric power generating station.[3][4]
- The upper post area of Fort Snelling, a National Historic Landmark in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, is listed with a threat level of "emergency" by the National Historic Landmarks Program and was named as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. While the original fort buildings dating back to the 1820s have been reconstructed and are operated as a historic site by the Minnesota Historical Society, newer buildings built after the 1880s are deteriorating rapidly.[5][6]
- The SS United States, a passenger liner built in 1952 for the United States Lines. She captured the Blue Riband on her maiden voyage in 1952—with the fastest eastbound and westbound transatlantic crossings record of three days, twelve hours, and twelve minutes. To this day she holds both the fastest westbound and eastbound transit records. The ship's fate is unknown and has been in disregard for many years since her retirement in 1969.
- Barton Academy, a Greek Revival school building in Mobile, Alabama. It was built 1836–39 to the designs of architects James H. Dakin, Charles B. Dakin, and James Gallier. First listed on the Alabama Historical Commission's "Places in Peril" in 2005 due to the threat of demolition by neglect, it was re-listed in 2009.[7][8]
- The Beckley Courthouse Square Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Beckley, West Virginia, was added to the list of most endangered historical resources in West Virginia by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV). The 2015 nomination resulted from a declaration by the State Historic Preservation Office that the district could be removed from the national register as the result of the inappropriate alteration of contributing structures. The PAWV declared in its assessment that the threat was the result of the nonfeasance of the city landmarks commission.[9][10]
Organizations which note threatened status
- National Park Service of the United States monitors the status of National Historic Landmark sites, many of which are privately owned.
- World Monuments Fund covers a top 100 list worldwide, several of which in the United States. For example, following Hurricane Katrina, it lists New Orleans as a whole, which includes many NRHP sites. Of the NRHPs in New Orleans, some in low-lying areas were damaged by Katrina and remain threatened while others in the French Quarter and elsewhere were not and are not.
- Civil War Preservation Trust
- The Alabama Historical Commission names Alabama's top 10 threatened historic sites in their yearly "Places in Peril" listing.[8]
- The Northwest Georgia Threatened Historic Sites Project identified 19 threatened historic sites in Georgia, some of which may be NRHPs.
- National Trust for Historic Preservation lists America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.[6]
- Preservation Maryland identifies a top 10 Endangered Maryland Sites each year. 2009 listings are here, and include the skipjack Flora A. Price.
See also
References
- ^ "Fort Jackson". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ "Fort St. Philip". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ The National Park Service reports "A draft Environmental Impact Statement has been released for the Highwood Generating Station. The station is a 250-megawatt, Circulating Fluidized Bed, coal-fired power plant with 6-megawatt of wind generation. Sections of the water intake and wastewater lines, overhead electric transmission lines, and the rail spur are proposed to be constructed within the NHL boundaries. Because this NHLs integrity is based on visual landscape qualities, the facilities planned present a high likelihood of negatively impacting the significant historic scene."
- ^ "Great Falls Portage". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
- ^ "National Historic Landmarks Program: Fort Snelling". Archived from the original on 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ a b "Minnesota Preservation Planner: Summer 2006" (PDF). 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "Places in Peril: Alabama's Endangered Historic Landmarks for 2005". "Alabama Heritage,". 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
- ^ a b "Places in Peril: Alabama's Most Endangered Sites for 2009" (PDF). Alabama Historical Commission. Retrieved 2009-11-26. [dead link]
- ^ "Beckley Downtown Historic District tops state Endangered Properties List", by Rick Steelhammer, March 6, 2015
- ^ ""Beckley Courthouse Square assessment and recommendations report published", August 13, 2015". Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.