Pictures: 11 Most Endangered U.S. Historic Sites Named

A.M.E. Church, Washington, D.C.

Photograph by Luis M. Alvarez, AP

The doors of Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church have opened to legendary figures in African-American history.

But today the 1886 church's walls are seeing some openings of their own, as structural cracks and water damage degrade the building where both Frederick Douglass, in 1895, and Rosa Parks, a century later, had their funerals.

Historically funded by donations from A.M.E. congregations across the United States, including contributions from freed slaves, the "national cathedral" of African Methodism is more than a place of worship. Close to the White House and U.S. Capitol, the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church has long been a center of African-American cultural, civic, and intellectual life.

Published May 21, 2010

Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan

Photograph courtesy MaryLou Graham

The waters of Lake Michigan wash over the century-old pilings of a fishing village in the Saugatuck Dunes region.

The 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) stretch of beaches, dunes, wetlands, and woods is a rare natural haven on the lakeshore. It's also home to numerous historic and archaeological sites, including "Michigan's Pompeii"—the buried remains of Singapore, an early 19th-century port town.

Saugatuck Township is the focus of plans to build a 400-acre (160-hectare) development that would include homes, a marina, a hotel, a restaurant, and shops. Though legally protected against such construction, the town faces an expensive battle with developers over zoning laws, the National Trust for Historic Preservation says.

Published May 21, 2010

Juana Briones House, California

Photograph courtesy National Trust for Historic Preservation

Once the vibrant center of a sprawling ranch, the Juana Briones House now sits deserted and dilapidated on a 1.5-acre (0.6-hectare) lot in Palo Alto, California.

After separating from her husband, the home's namesake bought the property from Native Americans in 1844, when California was still Mexican territory. Briones went on to become a successful farmer and rancher. Her house, constructed with a very rare framed adobe technique, provides a glimpse of early California ranch life and a tangible link to the state's Hispanic past.

Once open to the public, the Briones House now belongs to private owners, who intend to replace it with a new building.

Published May 21, 2010

Hinchliffe Stadium, New Jersey

Photograph by Mike Derer, AP

Only echoes still stir in Hinchliffe Stadium, where spectators once thrilled to the exploits of Negro League ballplayers, including the legendary Larry Doby.

Starting in 1933, Hinchliffe was home to the New York Black Yankees and also hosted boxing, football, and racing events high on a bluff above Paterson-Great Falls National Historical Park in Paterson, New Jersey. (Related pictures: America's Next National Parks?)

Now owned by Paterson Public Schools, the crumbling complex has become a haven for gang and drug activity, the National Trust for Historic Preservation says. The school system hopes to restore Hinchliffe for public use as part of a larger sports and entertainment facility.

Published May 21, 2010

Black Mountain, Kentucky

Photograph courtesy Roy Silver

Coal helped build the historic communities beneath Kentucky's Black Mountain, pictured behind a local church. But future surface-mining and deep-mining operations on the mountain may hinder the towns' efforts to forge a new economic future.

Benham, founded by the International Harvester farm-machinery company in 1911, and Lynch, estabished by the U.S. Coal and Coke Company in 1917, are classic company towns, which thrived in the mid-20th century.

In recent years their residents have worked to reinvent the area as a center for heritage tourism and natural beauty—but they now see preservation efforts threatened by the possibility of destructive mines on and under Black Mountain itself, the National Trust says.

(Related: "Coal Mining Causing Earthquakes, Study Says.")

Published May 21, 2010

Pågat, Guam

Photograph courtesy Kie Susuico

One of Guam's most valuable cultural sites, the coastal Pågat archaeological site was a home to the indigenous Chamorro people beginning around A.D. 700. For the Chamorro, who have inhabited Guam (map) for millennia, Pågat remains a locus for ceremonial activities on the island.

The U.S. military, as part of a massive buildup on the United States' westernmost Pacific territory, plans to construct five Marine Corps firing ranges within a few hundred feet of the site, which would be fenced for limited access. Opponents fear that Pågat's prehistoric stone foundations, tools, and pottery may be threatened by the plan.

(Find out how eating bats was linked to a neurological illness among the Chamorro of Guam.)

Published May 21, 2010

Threefoot Building, Mississippi

Photograph by George Clark, Meridian Star/AP

Meridian, Mississippi's skyline would be unrecognizable without the Threefoot Building, a 16-story art deco masterpiece dedicated in 1930. Despite its status as a local legend, the Threefoot's high vacancies and mounting maintenance problems resulted in shuttering of the city-owned building in 2000.

The building's interiors are deteriorating and its decorative edifice crumbling. Unless a suitable use can be found for this landmark, the historic structure may soon be reduced to rubble, the National Trust says.

Published May 21, 2010

Wilderness Battlefield, Virginia

Photograph by Rex Stucky, National Geographic

A weathered catalpa tree bears silent witness on Virginia's Wilderness Battlefield, where 28,000 soldiers died, were wounded, or went missing during the two-day Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864.

"It was one of the most significant and bloodiest engagements of the war, where Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant faced off for the very first time," the National Trust's Barker said.

Today a new fight rages over Walmart's plans to build a 240,000-square-foot (22,300-square-meter) store on the battlefield in Orange County. The store, and the commercial sprawl it's likely to spawn, would greet visitors just outside the gates of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Barker stressed.

Orange County officials have approved the plan, but the nonprofit Friends of Wilderness Battlefield aims to block the development with a lawsuit. Opponents, including heritage groups, the National Park Service, and Virginia's governor, hope Walmart will choose another Orange County site.

Published May 21, 2010

Industrial Arts Building, Nebraska

Photograph courtesy Nebraska State Historical Society

Lincoln, Nebraska's massive brick Industrial Arts Building was built as an exposition hall in 1913 to showcase agricultural products at the Nebraska state fairgrounds.

In the post-World War I era (pictured), the Lincoln Standard Aircraft Company used the building to assemble airplanes—including the one in which a young Charles Lindbergh trained to become a pilot.

Shuttered in 2004, the iconic building is now scheduled to meet the wrecking ball. The current owner, the University of Nebraska, plans to redevelop the former fairground site.

Published May 21, 2010

Merritt Parkway, Connecticut

Photograph courtesy Merritt Parkway Conservancy

The Merritt Parkway begins in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the New York State border and runs for 37.5 miles (60 kilometers) along a route laid out 70 years ago to blend the natural landscape with a median strip and bucolic embankments.

The elegant design created one of the United States' iconic stretches of scenic highway, dotted with sculpted bridges and free of advertisements and trucks.

But the road's steward, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, is under pressure from growing traffic demands and inadequate funding. Neglected maintenance means many architectural and landscape features are falling apart.

The National Trust's Barker warns that traffic demands are moving the state to "realign roads, replace bridges, and redesign intersections—all at the cost of the parkway's unique character."

Published May 21, 2010