2026 Endangered Places List
The 2026 Endangered Historic Sites List, curated by the American Historical Conservation Alliance, identifies historically significant locations across the United States that are currently at risk due to development, neglect, environmental damage, or lack of preservation support.
These sites represent critical pieces of American history. Some are widely known, while others remain largely overlooked. Each location on this list faces real and immediate threats that could lead to permanent loss if action is not taken.
If you are aware of a site that should be considered for future inclusion, we encourage submissions.
📩 Submit sites to: contact@saveourpast.org
Include location details, historical significance, and current threats.
Together, we can preserve what remains before it is gone.
🔹 1. Staunton River Battlefield
📍 Charlotte County, Virginia
Summary:
Site of the June 1864 Civil War battle where Confederate forces, including local militia and home guard units, repelled a Union cavalry raid. The battlefield remains largely rural and retains strong integrity.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Encroaching development and land subdivision
- Limited funding for long-term preservation
- Potential loss of surrounding historic landscape
Significance:
- Rare example of a Confederate defensive victory during late-war operations
- Represents civilian and militia involvement in the war effort
- One of the best-preserved small battlefields in Virginia
Call to Action:
- Advocate for expanded conservation easements
- Support partnerships with preservation groups
- Encourage battlefield tourism and awareness
🔹 2. Shockoe Bottom Burial Ground
📍 Richmond, Virginia
Summary:
Once one of the largest slave trading districts in the United States, Shockoe Bottom contains burial sites tied to enslaved individuals and early African American history.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Ongoing development pressure in downtown Richmond
- Risk of disturbing unmarked burial sites
- Incomplete historical documentation and protection
Significance:
- Central location in the domestic slave trade
- Sacred ground tied to thousands of enslaved individuals
- Important for African American heritage and memory
Call to Action:
- Support full archaeological investigation
- Promote memorialization and protected status
- Encourage public education initiatives
🔹 3. St. Albans Sanatorium
📍 Radford, Virginia
Summary:
Originally built in the late 19th century, St. Albans has served as a Lutheran boys’ school, hospital, and psychiatric facility. The site is widely known but remains structurally vulnerable.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Structural deterioration of historic buildings
- Limited formal preservation protections
- Reliance on tourism rather than restoration funding
Significance:
- Multi-use institutional history spanning over a century
- Local landmark with strong regional identity
- Potential for adaptive reuse
Call to Action:
- Advocate for historic designation expansion
- Encourage preservation grants and investment
- Promote historically accurate interpretation
🔹 4. Camp Peary (Historic Sections)
📍 York County, Virginia
Summary:
While still an active federal installation, portions of Camp Peary contain remains of earlier settlements and wartime training infrastructure that are largely inaccessible and undocumented.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Limited public access prevents documentation and preservation
- Possible destruction due to ongoing federal use
- Lack of public awareness
Significance:
- World War II-era training site
- Layers of earlier Virginia history beneath current use
- Represents hidden or restricted heritage
Call to Action:
- Advocate for historical surveys of non-sensitive areas
- Encourage federal preservation compliance reviews
- Promote documentation efforts
🔹 5. Sweet Springs Resort
📍 Monroe County, West Virginia
Summary:
A once-prominent 19th-century resort known for its mineral springs, now abandoned and deteriorating.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Severe structural decay
- Weather damage and neglect
- Lack of funding or ownership action
Significance:
- Major social and travel destination in the 1800s
- Example of early American resort culture
- Architecturally significant structures still standing
Call to Action:
- Seek preservation investors or nonprofit acquisition
- Promote awareness through regional history groups
- Advocate for emergency stabilization
🔹 6. Fort Wool
📍 Hampton Roads, Virginia
Summary:
Located on a man-made island near Fort Monroe, Fort Wool dates back to the early 19th century and played roles in coastal defense.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Deterioration due to coastal exposure
- Limited access leading to neglect
- Ongoing structural instability
Significance:
- Part of the harbor defense system for Hampton Roads
- Connected to War of 1812 and later military history
- Unique offshore fortification
Call to Action:
- Support preservation planning with local authorities
- Encourage controlled public access and tours
- Seek partnerships for restoration funding
🔹 7. Booker T. Washington’s Early Education Sites (Unmarked Locations)
📍 Franklin County, Virginia
Summary:
Several early locations tied to Booker T. Washington’s childhood and education remain unmarked or minimally recognized.
⚠️ Threat Level:
- Loss of physical locations due to development
- Lack of formal recognition or protection
- Limited public awareness
Significance:
- Tied to one of the most influential African American leaders
- Important to education and Reconstruction-era history
- Represents overlooked historical landscapes
Call to Action:
- Identify and document sites
- Install historical markers
- Partner with educational and heritage organizations
American Historical Conservation Alliance 