Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois

Since 1995, Landmarks Illinois has asked preservationists, community leaders and concerned citizens throughout the state to nominate threatened or endangered historic properties for its annual list, the Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois.

The purpose of the list is to focus attention on sites threatened by deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds, or inappropriate development and to bolster local advocacy efforts and build support for each property’s eventual preservation. The Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois list also draws attention to important policy issues that affect these properties and historic properties throughout the state.

You can also view our 20 Years, 20 Stories webpage featuring 20 Most Endangered sites and stories between 1995 and 2015.

2018 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois Announcement: April 25, 2018

Bonnie McDonald, LI President & CEO, will lead a press conference in Springfield to announce the sites listed on LI’s 2018 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. The press conference will take place at the Stratton Building in the third-floor Robert Oxtoby Board Room (401 S. Spring St., Springfield, Illinois) at 10 a.m. The press conference will also be streamed live on LI’s Facebook page.

2017 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois

Landmarks Illinois announced the 2017 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois on April 6, 2017, at a press conference in Springfield. Click on the name of the site in the map below to learn more about its history, why it is endangered, and how you can help.

Past Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois

2016 Most Endangered

1. Central High School and Neighborhood, Champaign
2. Citizens Savings and Loan Association Building, East Alton (pictured)
3. Cornell Store and Flats, Chicago
4. Harley Clarke Mansion, Evanston
5. Historic Neighborhood Schools, Highland Park and Rockford
6. Illinois Youth Center Auditorium and Gymnasium, St. Charles
7. Lakewood Farms, Wauconda
8. Massac County Courthouse, Metropolis
9. Salem Armory, Salem
10. St. Aldalbert Church, and Chicago's Historic Catholic Churches, Chicago
11. YWCA Building, Springfield

2015 Most Endangered

1. Arnold-Crowe House, Chicago (pictured)
2. Black Hawk Statue, Oregon
3. Bowen Building, Peoria State Hospital, Bartonville
4. Central Park Theater, Chicago
5. Condell House, Springfield
6. William H. Coventry House & Barn, Harvard
7. Historic Properties in River Edge Redevelopment Zones, Statewide
8. Mid-Century Modern Homes, Statewide
9. Schulze Bakery, Chicago
10. St. James Academy, Lemont
11. Thatchot House, Herrin

2014 Most Endangered

1. U.S. Marine Hospital, Galena
2. Camp Algonquin, Unincorporated McHenry County
3. McAuley Schoolhouse, West Chicago (pictured)
4. Robertson Building, Virginia
5. Hamilton School, Otterville
6. Uptown Theatre, Chicago
7. Halsted and Willow Gateway, Chicago
8. Central Manufacturing District, Chicago
9. Hotel Belleville, Belleville
10. Old Millstadt Water Tower, Millstadt
11. Special 11th Designation Federal Historic Tax Credit Program, Statewide

2013 Most Endangered

1. Chicago Bascule Bridges, Chicago
2. Community Mausoleums, Statewide
3. Gage House, Winnetka
4. Lincoln Colored Home, Springfield (pictured)
5. Madison Theater, Peoria
6. Mineola Hotel, Fox Lake
7. Miner’s Institute, Collinsville
8. Muddy Waters Residence, Chicago
9. Newcomb Hotel, Quincy
10. Joel Wiant House, West Chicago

2012 Most Endangered

1. Blair House, Lake Bluff
2. Bresee Tower, Danville
3. Bruch-Guertler House , Alton
4. Fox River Country Day School, Elgin
5. Freeport City Hall, Freeport
6. Historic Neighborhood Schools, Statewide
7. Hotel Guyon, Chicago
8. Marbold Farmstead, Greenview
9. Maywood Home for Soldier’s Widows, Maywood
10. Prentice Women’s Hospital, Chicago (pictured)

2011 Most Endangered

1. Belleville Turner Hall, Belleville
2. Bolivia Road Bridge, Bolivia
3. Iannelli Home and Studio, Park Ridge
4. New Regal Theater, Chicago
5. Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago
6. Sheriff's Residence and Jail, Paxton
7. Soper-Burr House, Bloomington
8. Streator Catholic Churches, Streator
9. West End Settlement House, Rock Island
10. Will Rogers Theater, Charleston (pictured)

2010 Most Endangered

1. Bass-Mollett House, Greenville
2. Chanute Headquarters and Mess Hall, Rantoul
3. Illinois Main Street Program, Statewide
4. Manske-Niemann Farm, Litchfield
5. Massac Theater, Metropolis
6. North Pullman, Chicago (pictured)
7. Prentice Women’s Hospital, Chicago
8. Red Cliff, Moline
9. St. Laurence Complex, Chicago
10. Uptown Theatre, Chicago

2009 Most Endangered

1. Arcade Building, Riverside
2. Archer House, Marshall
3. Aurora Masonic Temple, Aurora
4. Chautauqua Auditorium, Shelbyville
5. Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern Depot, Moline
6. Lewis Pharmacy Interior, Canton
7. Michael Reese Hospital Campus, Chicago
8. Porthole Barns of Greene County, Green Co.
9. Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago
10. Shawneetown Bank, Old Shawneetown (pictured)
11. Chicago Landmarks Ordinance, Chicago

2008 Most Endangered

1. Adams Memorial Library, Wheaton
2. Assembly Hall, Urbana-Champaign
3. Burlingame House, Eden
4. Chicago Daily News Building, Chicago
5. Germania Club and Theatre, Chicago
6. Gunners' Mates School, North Chicago
7. Michigan Avenue Streetwall, Chicago
8. The Mill, Lincoln
9. Spoon River Bridge, Bernadotte
10. Ursuline Academy, Springfield
11. Wrigley Field, Chicago (pictured)

2007 Most Endangered

1. Barat College's Sacred Heart Chapel, Lake Forest
2. Broadwell Tavern, Pleasant Plains
3. Cedar Court, Park Ridge
4. Duncan Manor, Towanda
5. Germania Hall, Freeport
6. Lakeshore Athletic Club, Chicago
7. Lathrop Homes, Chicago (pictured)
8. Longfellow Elementary School, Rock Island
9. Robinson Auditorium/Gymnasium, Robinson
10. Viking Ship, Geneva

2006 Most Endangered

1. Campana Building, Batavia
2. Green County Almshouse, Carrollton
3. Montgomery House, Glen Carbon
4. Mumford House, Urbana (pictured)
5. Pickford Theater Building, Chicago
6. Religious Structures of Douglas Boulevard, Chicago
7. Rock Island Arsenal Structures, Rock Island
8. Spring Street Historic Corridor, Galena
9. Trail of Tears Encampment, Buncombe
10. Westinghouse High School, Chicago
11. Pilgrim Baptist Church, Chicago

2005 Most Endangered

1. John Parke Gillett Memorial Arch, Elkhart
2. Jewelers Row Historic District, Chicago
3. Lincoln Hall, Urbana
4. Old Lincoln School, Rock Island
5. River Forest Women’s Club, River Forest
6. Tuscan Masonic Lodge, Carbondale
7. Universalist Unitarian Church, Peoria
8. Veterans Memorial Pool, Dixon
9. Westgate Street, Oak Park
10. Zook Home & Studio, Hinsdale
11. Cook County Hospital, Chicago (pictured)

2004 Most Endangered

1. Eldred House, Eldred
2. Fuller Geodesic Dome House, Carbondale
3. Henneberry Farmstead, Oswego
4. Northeast Evanston Historic District, Evanston
5. Palm Tavern, Chicago (pictured)
6. Plainfield's Early Settlement Structures, Plainfield
7. Promontory Point/Monroe Harbor, Chicago
8. St. Leo Catholic Church, Chicago
9. Steel Plant Structures along the Calumet River, Chicago
10. Judge Taylor House, Springfield
11. Cook County Hospital, Chicago

2003 Most Endangered

1. Alton City Hall, Alton
2. Cook County Hospital, Chicago
3. Emmert (“Spring”) House, Mount Carroll
4. Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground, Des Plaines
5. Hayes-Healy Gymnasium, Chicago
6. Hibbard “Cupola” House, Marengo
7. Illinois Central Railroad Depot, Mattoon
8. Kendall County Jail and Sheriff’s Residence, Yorkville (pictured)
9. Metropolitan Community Church and Rectories, Chicago
10. Streator Township High School, Streator
11. Farnsworth House, Plano

2002 Most Endangered

1. Nathan W. Huntley Residence, Chicago
2. Big Rock Township Farms, Big Rock
3. Eagle Hotel, Wilmington
4. Prairie Dell Church, Watseka
5. Rosenwald Apartments, Chicago
6. Loyola University Mallinckrodt Campus, Wilmette (pictured)
7. Moses King Brick & Tile Works, Colchester
8. Middaugh Mansion, Clarendon Hills
9. Pinckneyville Community High School, Pickneyville
10. Joliet Penitentiary, Joliet
11. Soldier Field, Chicago

2001 Most Endangered

1. C.B.&Q Depot, Aurora
2. Cook County Hospital Main Building, Chicago
3. Baum & Temple Buildings, Danville
4. Goodman Memorial Theater, Chicago
5. Main Brothers Box & Lumber Company Office Building, Karnak
6. Manske-Niemann Farm, Litchfield (pictured)
7. Mound City Marine Ways & U.S. Naval Station/Yard, Mound City
8. Uptown Theatre, Chicago
9. Warm Air Research Residence, Urbana
10. Burton, Peck & Couch Buildings, Chicago
11. The Vanishing Urban Corner (Special Thematic Designation)

2000 Most Endangered

1. Central School, Lincoln
2. Congregational Church, Pittsfield
3. Culver House, Decatur
4. The DuPage Theatre and The DuPage Shoppes, Lombard
5. Platt Luggage Building, Chicago (pictured)
6. Sarah Atwater Denman Row Houses, Quincy
7. Spring Valley City Hall, Spring Valley
8. Unity Temple, Oak Park
9. Upper Kaskaskia Trace Corridor, Waterloo
10. Waltmire Bridge, Tremon

1999 Most Endangered

1. Harwood-Solon House, Champaign (pictured)
2. Joseph Cluster Round Barn, Morris
3. N.O. Nelson Factory/Leclaire Village, Edwardsville
4. Pepsin Syrup Company Factory, Monticello
5. Pullman Palace Car Factory & Village, Chicago
6. St. Boniface Church & School, Chicago
7. Sugar Load Mound Complex, Collinsville
8. Teeple Barn, Elgin
9. Tree Studios/Medinah Temple Block, Chicago
10. Richards' Farm, Galena

1998 Most Endangered

1. Paul Schweikher Home & Studio, Schaumburg
2. Village of Hinsdale
3. Henke-Buck Farmstead, Waterloo
4. Cairo Ohio River Commercial District
5. Berwyn National Bank, Berwyn (pictured)
6. McPike Mansion, Alton
7. The Telegraph Properties, Alton
8. Springdale Cementary & Mausoleum, Peoria
9. Wagner Farm, Glenview
10. East St. Louis Mound Group, East St. Louis

1997 Most Endangered

1. Alter-Jaques House, Urbana
2. Cahokia Archaeological Site, Madison & St. Clair Counties
3. Ferguson Mansion, Springfield
4. Glasner Residence, Glencoe
5. Hettler House, Chicago
6. Loop Elevated Train Stations, Chicago (pictured)
7. Marseilles Hydro Plant, Marseilles
8. National Guard Armory, Rock Island
9. Old Post Office, Chicago
10. Washington School, River Forest

1996 Most Endangered

1. Nachusa House Hotel, Dixon (pictured)
2. Medinah Temple, Chicago
3. The Grand Village of the Illinois, Connerton Parcel, Lasalle County
4. The Chatterton's Block, Springfield
5. Pending Chicago Landmarks, Chicago
6. Downtown Oak Park, Oak Park
7. Chicago Transit Authority Green Line L Stations: Garfield Blvd., Homan Ave. & Racine Ave, Chicago
8. Elgin Milk Condensing Co./Borden Building, Elgin
9. Uptown Theatre, Chicago
10. Walden/Bluff's Edge Bridge, Lake Forest

1995 Most Endangered

1. Albany Mounds, Whiteside Co.
2. Dekalb Post Office, Dekalb
3. 8th Regiment Armory, Chicago
4. Enoch Building, Carrolton (pictured)
5. Ft. Sheridan, Lake Forest
6. Grand Village of the Kickapoo, LeRoy
7. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
8. Musician's Hall, Peoria
9. North Shore Station, Skokie
10. Pullman Market Hall & Market Hall Square, Chicago

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