Full Breakdown
National Trust Releases 2026 List of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
5/21/2026, 12:46:59 AM
Announcement and Funding
On May 20, 2026 the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced its annual list of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, timed with the United States’ 250th anniversary. Each site receives a one-time $25,000 grant to jump-start stabilization, interpretation and community outreach.
Threatened Sites
The 11 sites are Ben Moore Hotel (Alabama), Tule Lake Segregation Center (California), Angel Island Immigration Station (California), Swansea Friends Meeting House (Massachusetts), Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs building (Michigan), Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape (New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah), Women’s Rights National Historical Park (New York), Stonewall National Monument (New York), President’s House archaeological site (Pennsylvania), Hanging Rock Battlefield (South Carolina) and El Corazón Sagrado Church (Texas). Threats include structural decay, development pressure, limited federal protection and recent federal actions that seek to curtail interpretive content on slavery, Japanese-American incarceration and LGBTQ history.
Official Statements & Criticism
National Trust President Carol Quillen said the list reflects the aspirations of the Declaration of Independence by highlighting sites where equality battles occurred. The National Park Service reinstated slavery-related panels at the President’s House after a court order and restored the Stonewall flag after its brief removal. Heritage groups and civil-rights advocates criticize the Trump administration’s moves to limit diversity initiatives, end land-protection for the Chaco landscape and edit or erase interpretive material on marginalized histories.
Data Snapshot
- $25,000 grant per site (total $275,000).
- List began in 1988; >350 sites have been supported.
- Tule Lake protects only 37 of 1,100 acres; Women’s Rights park faces a $10 million deferred-maintenance backlog.
What’s Next
The Trust will track each site’s progress, pursue additional public-private funding and support litigation protecting interpretive content at the President’s House and the border-wall-adjacent El Corazón Sagrado. Organizers hope the list’s national visibility will attract donors and volunteers to preserve these tangible symbols of America’s ongoing equality movement.
Verbatim Quotes
- “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,” — Carol Quillen, President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation
- “not just because the bricks and mortar is important but because the stories these places hold are important.” — Carol Quillen, President and CEO, 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.” — Carol Quillen, President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation
- “It’s about striving to accurately show the full, unvarnished historical picture by giving visibility to under-represented groups that used to get glossed out of our history.” — National Trust spokesperson, National Trust for Historic Preservation
