“The sites on this year’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places embody the diversity and complexity of America’s story, and the variety of threats that endanger it,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The places on this year’s list span the continent and encompass the breadth of the American experience. Each one is enormously important to our understanding of who we are as a nation and a people.”

Sites on the 2007 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places are:

Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront, N.Y. -- Once a booming 19th century industrial waterfront supported by generations of immigrants, Brooklyn’s heritage is at risk as historic dockyards and factories are being demolished by developers anxious to cash in on the area’s newly hip status.

El Camino Real National Historic Trail, N. Mex. -- The earliest Euro-American trade route in the United States, the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, known for its austere physical beauty, rural solitude and remote isolation, is threatened by a $225 million commercial Spaceport, a venture planned adjacent to one of the most pristine and sacred segments of the Trail.

H.H. Richardson House, Brookline, Mass. -- The last home and studio of famed 19th-century American architect Henry Hobson (H.H.) Richardson – the creator of Boston’s much loved landmark Trinity Church – is vacant and vulnerable to demolition unless a preservation-minded buyer comes forth to rescue the legacy of the man who created the “Richardsonian Romanesque” style.

Hialeah Park, Hialeah, Fl.  – The drop dead glamorous 1925 racetrack known for its stunning Mediterranean architecture and pink flamingos, Hialeah Park – frequented by celebrities such as Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Seabiscuit – is threatened with a planned 3,760-unit condo and apartment complex with nearly one-million-square feet of retail and 200,000-square-feet of office space, which would destroy much of the storied park.

Historic Places in Powerline Corridors, Va., W. Va., Md., Pa., N.Y., N.J.  Del.  – Seven states – many of them in the Mid- Atlantic region -- are waging battles to protect everything that’s irreplaceable about their communities as massive 150-foot tall, 75-foot wide power lines are planned that will blight historic landscapes and usurp private property rights.  Proposed lines would cut through private land, publicly held open space, neighborhoods, historic sites, historic districts and magnificent viewsheds.

Historic Structures in Mark Twain National Forest, Mo. -- Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, the 1.5-million-acre Mark Twain National Forest is known for rocky bluffs, pastoral views and historical sites which speak to the region’s rich heritage – from intact 19th-century frontier farmsteads to New Deal-era fire lookouts and ranger stations.  Today, due to U.S. Forest Service budget limitations, many properties are vacant, unsecured, deteriorating and threatened with demolition.
 
Historic Route 66 Motels, Ill. To Calif. -- Affectionately called “The Mother Road,” Route 66 is known for quirky roadside attractions and unique mom-and-pop motels, constructed between the late 1920 and late 1950s and often clad in neon.  In recent years, Route 66 motels in hot real-estate markets have been torn down at record rates, while in cold real-estate markets, motels languish and are being reclaimed by the forces of nature.

Minidoka Internment National Monument, Jerome County, Idaho -- From 1942 to 1945, thousands of Nikkei (Japanese American citizens and immigrants of Japanese ancestry) were sent to south central Idaho to live in camps under armed guard at the Minidoka Relocation Center.  Today a National Monument, the site, which once contained more than 600 buildings, offers scant visitor services or interpretive information, is routinely looted of artifacts and is threatened by insensitive local land-use planning, including the proposed siting of a massive animal feed operation just over a mile away.

Philip Simmons Workshop and Home, Charleston, S.C. -- Beloved master blacksmith Philip Simmons has spent the better part of 80 years adorning his hometown with intricate ornamental ironwork – gates, fences, stair rails and window grills -- but with no plans to preserve his home and studio, the legacy of this 95-year-old artisan is in jeopardy.

Pinon Canyon, Colo. -- In Southeastern Colorado, under uninterrupted blue skies, Pinon Canyon is an area of scenic buttes, river valleys, family ranches and historic and archeological sites that span 11,500 years.  The area is threatened by the U.S. Army’s plans to expand its maneuver training ground by as much as 408,000 acres, a move that could lead to forced condemnation of private lands and damage or destroy historic Santa Fe Trail monuments, ranches, and historic and prehistoric archeological sites.

Stewart's Point Rancheria , Sonoma County, Calif. -- The Kashia Pomo Native American tribe has inhabited this Northern California land for thousands of years. But because a federal program to protect tribal historic resources is seriously underfunded, the Kashia, like many tribes, is losing its sacred and historic sites to looters, vandals and the elements.

2007 marks the 20th listing of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Since 1988, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has used its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places as a powerful alarm to raise awareness of the serious threats facing the nation’s greatest treasures.  This year, the Trust celebrates the 20th anniversary of the list as one of the most effective tools in the fight to save the country’s irreplaceable architectural, cultural and natural heritage.  The list, which has identified 189 sites through 2007, has been so successful in galvanizing preservation efforts across the country and rallying resources to save one-of-a-kind landmarks that in just two decades, an astounding 52 percent of the sites have been saved and rehabilitated.  While the fight is not over for many of these historic places, only 6 sites have been lost since the Trust launched the 11 Most program. 

View the 20th listing of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has identified 189 threatened one-of-a-kind historic treasures since 1988. While a listing does not ensure the protection of a site or guarantee funding, the designation has been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country. Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy.

Recent 11 Most Successes:  The Ennis House, the grandest of Frank Lloyd Wright’s textile-block houses, was damaged by an earthquake in 1994.  But after an 11 Most Endangered listing last year, the Ennis House Foundation was able to embark upon the first phase of renovation. Finça Vigía, Ernest Hemingway’s beloved home in Cuba, received national attention when American preservationists ventured to the island to help their Cuban counterparts craft strategies for the restoration of the American author’s estate. Ten months after being named one of the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places last year, Congressman Frank Wolf sponsored legislation that would establish the “Journey Through Hallowed Ground” Corridor as a National Heritage Area.

The History Channel, History International and Biography will air a 30-second spot that features the 2007 America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.  The spot will air at various times during the programming schedule from June 21 - mid July. 

**High resolution digital images of the sites can be obtained at www.nationaltrust.org/11most or at press.nationaltrust.org

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable.  Recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the Trust was founded in 1949 and provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize communities.  Its Washington, DC headquarters staff, six regional offices and 28 historic sites work with the Trust’s 270,000 members and thousands of local community groups in all 50 states.  For more information, visit the Trust’s web site at www.nationaltrust.org.