Irreplaceable America Puts 10 Endangered U.S. Landmarks in the Preservation Spotlight
The World Monuments Fund has launched a new preservation initiative aimed at a distinctly American question: which places most clearly embody the nation’s history, and which are now closest to disappearing? As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the organization’s new list, Irreplaceable America, identifies 10 at-risk cultural landmarks across the country and gives each one a year of WMF-supported advocacy, technical assistance, and planning expertise.
The selection process was deliberately broad. WMF received 75 nominations, then narrowed the field through an independent jury of historians, architects, and heritage experts, who weighed cultural significance, urgency, and community benefit. The result is a cross-section of American history that stretches from colonial-era missions to modernist architecture and early 20th-century folk art.
Among the most vulnerable sites are the Acoma and Laguna missions in modern-day New Mexico, 17th-century churches built after the Spanish conquest. Constructed in adobe and stone, both are now dealing with structural damage caused by water exposure, while repair funding remains limited. In Boston, the African Meeting House, built in 1806, is another focal point. It is the oldest surviving Black church building in the United States and played a central role in abolitionist organizing, including the founding of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. Frederick Douglass and Maria Stewart were among the figures who spoke there. Although the Museum of African American History acquired and restored the building in the 2010s, shifting National Park Service priorities have left it exposed to new risk.
The list also includes Dallas City Hall, the I.M. Pei-designed Brutalist landmark that rose after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, when the city was trying to recast itself. Today, the building faces abandonment or possible demolition. One city estimate placed repairs at $345 million, and WMF argues that adaptive reuse could preserve the structure while supporting downtown renewal. The organization also notes that the rehabilitation costs have been overstated.
In North Carolina, Black Mountain College’s Studies Building is suffering from water damage and aging materials. Designed by modernist pioneer Lawrence Kocher and built through collaboration between students and teachers, the building once hosted Josef and Anni Albers, Willem de Kooning, and John Cage, who taught a generation that included Robert Rauschenberg, Ruth Asawa, and Kenneth Noland.
Other sites on the list include Watts Towers in South Central Los Angeles, Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia, and the Dayton Aviation Sites in Ohio. Together, they reflect the breadth of the American story — and the fragility of the places that hold it.
