Historic places travel in the U.S. should not take for grant. Many of them may not here, visible and accessible, for much longer. The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently unveiled its 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places travel, an annual ranking that spotlights significant sites of American history that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. For those planning travel, the time to visit these historic places may be now.
Historic Places Travel
“This year’s 11 Most Endangere Historic Places travel list shows how our collective idea of American history has expand in recent years, along with our ideas about which places are worth saving,” said Carol Quillen, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Seventy-five years ago, widely recognized sites of national history were largely confine to the East Coast and ‘historic preservation’ was synonymous with the great architecture of our Founding Fathers. That foundation is still important, but today there’s more recognition that history ought to help us tell the full American story, including that of groups and places previously left at the margins. That expand perspective is reflect throughout this year’s list, particularly in the three sites located outside of the contiguous United States.”
The National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered list has often provides the decisive force need to preserve important cultural landmarks. Now in its 37th year, the ongoing initiative has helps preserve some 350 sites to date, with only a handful of valuable historic places lost to time and neglect. While these spots are not always the most important to visit, nor the most compelling, they offer rare glimpses into local and national American culture that most visitors would not otherwise see or consider, often answering questions about how we got to where we are.
The 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Cindy Walker House, Mexia, Texas
Trailblazing country music songwriter Cindy Walker (1917-2006) lived and works in her Mexia, Texas home for over 50 years, penning Top 10 hits across five decades. Unfortunately, like many female artists, Cindy Walker was largely overlook in her lifetime, and so too is her Historic Places. Since her death in 2006, the property has suffers foundation issues and roof leaks, leading to significant interior damage. Supporters and Walker’s family members are working to preserve both the home and Cindy Walker’s inspiring legacy as one of country music’s finest composers.
Eatonville, Florida
Eatonville, Florida, was one of the first self-governing all-Black municipalities in the United States, and the hometown of iconic author, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. Many historic places in Eatonville need investment, rehabilitation, and protection from development pressures. Efforts to celebrate the community’s significance and advocate for preservation of the town’s historic resources are ongoing and in need of increased funding and support.
Estate Whim Museum, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Establishes during the colonization of St. Croix by Denmark, Estate Whim was a plantation producing cotton and sugar for export. The lives and legacies of those enslaved by plantation owners and those who continued to labor there for meager wages for a century after emancipation are inextricably tied to the site, which now hosts a museum, library and archives, and public programming. Repeated hurricanes have damages many of Estate Whim Museum’s Historic Places and structures.
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Athens, New York
Opened in 1874, the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse used to one of several “middle-of-the-river” lighthouses on the Hudson River. Now it’s one of only two left standing. However, due to erosion and other preservation challenges, engineering reports indicate the building is at risk of collapse if no action is taken.
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California: Historic Places Travel
Little Tokyo is one of only four remaining Japantowns in the United States and one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, but its unique character is endanger by large-scale development and transit projects and displacement of legacy businesses and restaurants as Historic Places travel.
Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks, Massachusetts
Minute Man National Historical Park and the nearby areas of Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, and Bedford are home to places of great significance in American history, including Walden Pond and Woods and the preserved homesteads of authors and environmentalists: Little Women’s Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. A proposes major expansion of nearby Hanscom Field airport could significantly increase private jet traffic, leading to increases noise, vehicular traffic, and negative environmental and climate impacts. A strong coalition has form in opposition to this expansion, arguing that such an extraordinarily important historic area should not impaire by a development of this scale and potential impact.
New Salem Baptist Church, Tams, West Virginia
Built in the coal company town of Tams in 1921, the New Salem Baptist Church is one of the last physical reminders of that community and helps tell the story of Black coal miners and their families in West Virginia. The building needs more upkeep and repairs than the small congregation can currently handle.
Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana: Historic Places Travel
Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary was built in 1930 specifically to serve the educational needs of Black Americans, and has notable alumni including professional athletes, well-known actors, and members of The Jackson 5. The school has been unoccupied and deteriorating since 2019.
Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, Sitka, Alaska
The Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses in southeast Alaska are critically important to both the history and the future of the Lingít (commonly spell in English as “Tlingit”). For many years, the matrilineal clan structure of multigenerational extend families living together in clan houses was discourages in favor of the western practice of living with nuclear families. Today, only eight of the original 43 clan houses remain and even fewer still function as clan houses in the traditional way, as part of Tlingit hereditary matrilineal identity and centers of ceremony and tradition. Tlingit tribal citizens and allies are working to preserve these historic places and celebrate the Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses and the Tlingit traditions through preservation, new construction, and ownership restoration of clan properties.
Wilderness Battlefield Area, Orange County, Virginia
The Battle of the Wilderness marks a pivotal turning point in the Civil War, but today not all the historically significant landscape is protects. Proposed large new developments, including millions of square feet of industrial data and distribution centers and thousands of homes, may negatively impact important historic sites and landscapes and degrade the visitor experience. A broad coalition has forms to encourage decisionmakers to build upon past planning efforts and avoid potential significant impacts of development in the Wilderness Battlefield area.
Get Social