On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence, the World Monuments Fund has announced a new list of ten heritage places representing the country's history. The special initiative, titled "Irreplaceable America," recognizes historic places across the country whose preservation is considered "essential to the richness and complexity of American history," spotlighting urgent preservation needs. From the oldest botanical garden in the country to I.M. Pei's modernist Dallas City Hall, the selected sites bear witness to Indigenous heritage, artistic experimentation, and public health, colonial, and Black history.
The 10 sites were chosen through a nationwide open call for nominations, which resulted in 75 submissions reviewed and evaluated by an independent panel. The main factors considered in the evaluation were the sites' cultural significance, the urgency of conservation needs, and the potential community benefit of preservation. Their preservation is now threatened by environmental factors, lack of funding for proper maintenance, and pressure from private developers. In addition to the 10 listed places, the announcement also recognized the United States' National Park Service for its work preserving more than 430 sites across the country.
Find below the full list of recognized sites with brief descriptions provided by the organization.
New York's Smallpox Hospital Ruin, Roosevelt Island, New York
The first U.S. facility built to treat epidemic disease, this nineteenth-century smallpox hospital, designed by architect James Renwick Jr., remains a rare landmark in the history of medicine. After decades of neglect, the structure is dangerously unstable and at immediate risk of collapse without urgent stabilization.
Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The oldest surviving botanical garden in the United States, Bartram's Garden, helped shape American natural history and global plant exchange. Today, climate pressures, encroaching development, and a projected tripling in visitation threaten this irreplaceable cultural landscape.
Black Mountain College Studies Building, North Carolina
At the heart of Black Mountain College, this building represents one of the most influential experiments in American art and education. Severe deterioration, water infiltration, and climate-related damage now threaten its survival.
Boston African Meeting House, Massachusetts
The oldest surviving Black church in the United States, Boston African Meeting House, helped anchor the early abolitionist movement. Now, funding gaps put this irreplaceable civil rights landmark at risk when preservation is most urgent.
City of New Orleans, Louisiana
Shaped by Indigenous, African, European, and Caribbean influences, the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans form one of America's most distinctive cultural landscapes. Rising seas, land loss, and mass population relocation now threaten that heritage.
Colonial Homes of Newport, Rhode Island
Newport's extraordinary concentration of colonial-era architecture survives as a living neighborhood, not a museum. Now rising seas and accelerating climate threats put a significant share of this historic fabric at risk, demanding urgent action to protect it.
Dallas City Hall, Texas
Designed by I. M. Pei, Dallas City Hall is one of the most significant works of civic architecture and modernism in America. Now, pressure from private developers and inflated rehabilitation estimates create an immediate risk of abandonment or demolition.
Mission Churches of Acoma and Laguna Pueblos, New Mexico
Built by Indigenous communities and still active today, these Pueblo-Franciscan mission churches remain vital centers of spiritual and cultural life. Funding shortfalls and the loss of traditional building knowledge now put them at risk.
Watts Towers, Los Angeles, California
Italian immigrant Simon Rodia spent more than three decades building these soaring sculptures by hand, producing one of the most singular works of folk art in American history. Now, environmental stress, seismic risk, and dwindling resources threaten their stability.
Wright Brothers Sites in Dayton, Ohio
In the workshops and fields of Dayton, Wilbur and Orville Wright developed the technology that made powered flight possible. Now, years of deferred investment and limited resources threaten their long-term preservation and public interpretation.
Special Designation: National Park Service
The WMF and the external jury also recognized the work of the United States National Park Service (NPS), the country's institution responsible for preserving and maintaining more than 430 sites. Some of these are highly recognized landmarks such as Mount Rushmore, Washington DC's national memorials, Yellowstone, and Chaco Canyon. According to the WMF, the institution now faces mounting pressures, including staffing reductions, chronic underfunding, a growing deferred maintenance backlog, and increasing climate risks that threaten both historic resources and visitor access. This designation aims to contribute to ensuring the sites remain accessible, identifiable, and properly preserved.
Earlier this year, the World Monuments Fund announced a $7 million commitment to support 21 heritage preservation projects launching this year. The selected sites highlight the diversity of global heritage, reflecting a wide chronological and geographic range, from ancient cultural landscapes to modern architectural landmarks. Back in January, the WMF and Knoll announced the Australia-based architecture firm Architectus as the recipient of the 2026 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize for its conservation of the United Nations' Historic Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Most recently, the institution has also joined international calls to protect cultural heritage at risk of destruction in Iran and Lebanon due to US-Israeli military attacks on their territories.
