National Trust Announces the 2026 List of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Trust for Historic Preservation today unveiled its annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, which this year honors the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding and the self-evident truth that all people are created equal. To protect these historic places and enable their stories of equality to be shared for generations, all 11 sites will receive a one-time grant of $25,000 from the National Trust.

"Even as the American people prepare to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary, consequential historic places are at risk, some through intentional erasure, others from short-sighted development plans, and still others from deterioration or neglect," said Carol Quillen, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "This year, we honor our Declaration of Independence and the living power of its aspirations by highlighting at-risk sites where the fight for equality happened and by recognizing the heroes whose commitment, resilience, and moral courage can inspire us today to continue to build a more perfect union."

Each site on this year's list illustrates a different connection to the founding-era principle that all people are created equal. These historic places helped define, or redefine, the nation's fundamental values of equal opportunity, religious freedom, self-governance and voting, immigration and citizenship, freedom of expression and assembly, and equal access to justice. Preservation of these sites is key to telling the full American story.

Over the coming year, each of the 11 sites will use the visibility created by this announcement as a catalyst for their own locally driven efforts to raise critical funding, rally public support, advocate for change, and permanently save these historic places. Grant awards from the National Trust will help kickstart this urgent work, supporting preservation-based planning and brick-and-mortar stabilization. Exact plans vary from site to site, but commonly include activities such as building and site repairs, the creation of new interpretive materials, and educational community events.

Since its debut in 1988, the list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has galvanized support for more than 350 sites located all across the country. The annual program has proven to be a highly effective tool for local advocates to raise national awareness and to highlight the threats facing some of the country's most significant historic places. Through preservation, revitalization, investment, land protection, and activation, these places continue to share their stories, educate the public, and engage communities across the nation.

To learn more about the places on this year's list, and find out what you can do to help preserve and activate them, go to www.SavingPlaces.org/11Most.

The 2026 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places (alphabetical by state):

Ben Moore Hotel (Montgomery, Alabama)
The Ben Moore Hotel was a rich cultural landmark for Black Americans living in Montgomery, Alabama under Jim Crow, but prolonged vacancy has led to structural deterioration, and the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood is facing development pressures. The multi-story historic hotel needs a significant amount of funding, technical expertise, community engagement, and partnerships to fully restore, protect, and activate the site.

Tule Lake Segregation Center (Modoc County, California)
The Tule Lake Segregation Center is a place which honors the brave contributions of Japanese Americans who fought to protect the rights of American citizenship. Once serving as a maximum-security prison for Japanese Americans who protested their unjust, race-based incarceration and deportation, the site is now a National Monument that is sacred to the survivors and descendants of those imprisoned there. Only a token 37 acres of the 1,100-acre site is protected, with the major portion at risk of permanent alteration from a proposed airfield fence construction project. Advocacy efforts are needed to ensure Tule Lake can be protected and its stories of resistance and resilience shared with future generations on this sacred site where thousands of immigrants and American citizens bravely advocated for their rights.

Angel Island Immigration Station (Tiburon, California)  
Angel Island Immigration Station was the busiest immigration port on the West Coast, but many of those who passed through its doors, particularly immigrants from Asia and the Pacific, seeking access to America's promises of freedom were instead subjected to unjust race-based mistreatment, including detention, interrogation, and family separation. Today, Angel Island is endangered by physical, environmental, political, and economic factors. While several buildings have been restored and opened to the public, additional funding is needed for structural repairs, expanded programming, and increased awareness of this site and its significance to our nation.

Swansea Friends Meeting House (Somerset, Massachusetts)  
Recognized as the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house in Massachusetts, the Swansea Friends Meeting House was built as a refuge by a congregation fleeing religious persecution and seeking a safe place to worship freely. The 1701 building has been closed to the public for years and requires significant rehabilitation. Once restored and activated, the Meeting House will serve as a community center including interpretation honoring the Quaker congregation's contributions to our nation's pursuit of religious liberty, the abolition of slavery, and women's rights.  

Detroit Association of Women's Clubs (Detroit, Michigan)
Founded in 1921, the Detroit Association of Women's Clubs (DAWC) was one of the first Black organizations in Detroit to own their headquarters building, originally constructed in 1913 and later purchased by the DAWC in 1941 as a space where association members could gather and work together towards achieving the as-yet-unfulfilled vision of equality for women and Black Americans. In 2024, burst water pipes caused damage to the interior and led to closure of the building. Partnerships and financial support are needed to ensure the DAWC clubhouse is reopened to members and the public for community-serving programs and initiatives.

Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape (New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah)
The Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape is an ancestral homeland sustained by Pueblo and Hopi people for over a millennium. Changes to federal land policy threaten to open up significant portions of this living cultural landscape to oil and gas development. Permanent protections and robust tribal consultation are essential to protect the cultural integrity of the Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape so that it can serve as a national model for Indigenous-led stewardship, intertribal collaboration, and public education grounded in respect and consent.

Women's Rights National Historical Park (Seneca Falls, New York)  
The Women's Rights National Historical Park connects the story of women's rights and demand for equality to the ongoing, multi-generational fight for civil rights, human rights, and economic justice for all. As the Park faces a deferred maintenance backlog of over $10 million, additional funding and support are needed to ensure that visitors can fully immerse themselves in the history of the site, including when in 1848 the Declaration of Sentiments boldly proclaimed that "all men and women are created equal."

Stonewall National Monument (New York, New York)  
The Stonewall National Monument is the first and only U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history. It serves as a permanent and official acknowledgment that the courage and leadership shown by the LGBTQ+ community has fundamentally advanced equality in American law, culture, and public life. However, the Stonewall National Monument is threatened by federal actions aimed at erasing and rewriting the LGBTQ+ presence in American history. Sustained advocacy is necessary to ensure that the full and inclusive LGBTQ+ history of the Stonewall Uprising, including references to the participation of transgender people, remains publicly visible. 

The President's House Site (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)  
The President's House archaeological site was the location of the nation's presidential executive mansion from 1790 to 1800. Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived here, and President Washington enslaved nine Africans here whose labor sustained his household, including Ona Judge and Hercules, who resisted slavery by self-emancipating from this site. Currently, the President's House Site is under threat from federal actions that aim to remove public interpretive materials about the people who were enslaved within its walls and their acts of resistance and self-emancipation. Reinstallation and restoration of all the interpretive materials is essential to defend the historical truth of the site and ensure that the stories of the nine people enslaved there are never erased from our nation's history.

Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield (Heath Springs, South Carolina)
The Battle of Hanging Rock was a key engagement in the Revolutionary War and is considered a Patriot victory that helped boost morale at a dark time in the Southern Campaign, ultimately weakening British control in South Carolina. Revealing a great divide, neighbors – both Patriot and Loyalist – fought one another over loyalty, land, and self-government, each with distinct stakes in survival and autonomy. Today, only portions of the core battlefield are protected and open to the public, and the area is anticipating population growth and increasing development pressures. Significant funding and partnerships are needed to protect critical battlefield land, open it for public visitation, and steward this site for current and future generations.   

El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús (Ruidosa, Texas)
Completed in 1915, El Corazón Sagrado Church was a place of refuge and prayer for Mexican and Mexican American farming communities on both sides of the international border along the nearby Rio Grande River. Vacant since the 1950s, the church's traditional adobe construction has been stabilized with leadership by a nonprofit friends group, but more work is needed to reactivate the building as a community hub. Recent news that the proposed U.S. border wall may come within a few hundred yards of the church further complicates preservation and community-building efforts.  

ABOUT THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities maintain and enhance the power of historic places. Chartered by Congress in 1949 and supported by partners, friends, and champions nationwide, we help preserve the places and stories that make communities unique. Through the stewardship and revitalization of historic sites, we help communities foster economic growth, create healthier environments, and build a stronger, shared sense of civic duty and belonging. SavingPlaces.org

Media Contact: Sophia Schintzel | [email protected] 

SOURCE National Trust for Historic Preservation