10 Most Endangered - Indiana Landmarks

Every day, all year long, Indiana Landmarks works to revitalize historic structures that give our communities visible connections to their past and lend irreplaceable visual character to the streetscape. Once a year, we announce the 10 Most Endangered, a list of historic places on the brink of extinction and too important to lose.

The list includes a church designed by a trailblazing Black architect; one of the state’s oldest covered bridges; an Art Deco skyscraper; a commercial block that embodies Indiana’s limestone legacy; a classic high school gymnasium; a long-vacant county home; a pre-Civil War brewery; a courthouse square anchor; an industrial bigwig’s neglected mansion; and the mid-century home of a pioneering African American real estate developer. These places shape lives, and when they’re gone, they leave a void that can’t be filled.

First Friends Church

1501 South Adams Street, Marion

Without action, Marion could lose a significant landmark designed by Samuel Plato, one of the early twentieth century’s most prominent Black architects.

Birdsell Mansion

511 West Colfax Avenue, South Bend

When it was built in 1898, J.B. Birdsell’s mansion rivalled Clem Studebaker’s Tippecanoe Place and J.D. Oliver’s Copshaholm in opulence and prestige. Today, however, its ongoing neglect is cause for growing alarm.

Cades Mill Covered Bridge

West Cades Hollow Road, approx. 4.5 miles southwest of Veedersburg

Built in 1854, Fountain County’s Cades Mill Covered Bridge is the state’s oldest covered bridge still in its original location, but decades of deferred maintenance have placed the historic span in serious structural danger

Geter Means House

2044 Monroe Lane, Gary

Built in 1954 on a prominent corner lot, Geter Means’ mid-century ranch house served as a focal point in Gary’s Means Manor neighborhood, but vacancy and neglect have transformed the property into a blight.

Hulman Building and Garage

20 Northwest 4th Street, 109-111 Northwest 3rd Street, Evansville

Evansville’s Hulman Building needs a preservation-minded developer with a vision for making its stylish Art Deco architectural features shine once again.

Stinesville Commercial Buildings

8211-8237 West Main Street, Stinesville

With handsome limestone facades and large storefront windows, four vacant commercial buildings in Stinesville hold potential for any number of creative reuses, but with each passing year, prospects for saving them fade.

Knox County Poor Asylum

2830 Arc Avenue, Vincennes

After nearly 20 years of vacancy, Knox County’s historic poor farm is in desperate shape. Without repairs, the 1882 building faces demolition by neglect.

Kamm and Schellinger Brewery

100 Center Street, Mishawaka

The Kamm and Schellinger Brewery is the last of a once-thriving industrial area along Mishawaka’s riverfront, but there is increasing pressure to demolish the historic complex in favor of new development.

Courthouse Annex

105-115 South 12th Street, New Castle

County officials have repeatedly discussed demolishing New Castle’s Courthouse Annex building and using the site for parking, a move that would rob the city’s courthouse square of its historic character.

Shields Memorial Gymnasium

400-418 West 5th Street, Seymour

Seymour’s WPA-era Shields Memorial Gym occupies a prime spot in the city’s Walnut Street Historic District, surrounded by open land that could make it a target for demolition and development.

Act Now to Save These Places

Saving threatened buildings takes teamwork. You can be a part of that team. Reach out to local leaders. Let them know these buildings are important to you. And support state and local preservation groups.

TAKE ACTION