To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) unveiled “Irreplaceable America,” an initiative spotlighting 10 at-risk U.S. heritage sites.
Included on that list are the 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 reduced National Park Service staffing and stalled capital projects threaten their long-term preservation and public interpretation,” WMF officials noted.
The list is intended to bring “urgent attention” to places “vital to America’s diverse cultural and historical narrative that are now threatened by climate change, neglect, and lack of funding,” WMF officials added.
Other sites on the list include Mount Rushmore; the Colonial Homes of Newport in Rhode Island; America’s First Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York; two of the most significant Mission Churches in New Mexico; the City of New Orleans in Louisiana; the African Meeting House in Massachusetts; Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia, the oldest surviving botanical garden in the United States; Dallas City Hall; and Watts Towers in Los Angeles.
For more information: WMF.org
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