Most Endangered

Yesterday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2004. Including such diverse places as Nine Mile Canyon in Utah, Chicago's Cook County Hospital, the Madison-Lenox Hotel in Detroit, and the state of Vermont, the list sheds light on the scope of preservation, as it ranges from individual buildings to a whole state.



Beyond illustrating the variety of structures that preservation concerns itself with, the list also brings attention to the reasons for their being endangered, from tourism to politics and Wal-Mart. Moreso, the list helps us realize where we place value, in the past and in the present. For example, the Bethlehem Steel Plant, now dormant and in bad condition, was left to deteriorate after closing, not taking into account its value, its place in U.S. history. Now that is becoming apparent, hence its inclusion on the list.