10 Most Endangered - Indiana Landmarks

Right now, a landmark is being destroyed. An old movie palace, perhaps. A nineteenth-century church. Your grandpa’s barn. Some will claim the buildings were empty, but they were full. Packed with heritage. Crowded with meaning. Brimming with potential for reuse.

Old Fire Station 18

3130 West Washington Street, Indianapolis

If the long-vacant 1936 station on Indianapolis’s west side is allowed to deteriorate further, it may lose its chance for recovery.

Simpson Hall

Indiana School for the Deaf, Indianapolis

In spite of interest from developers, the state legislature has appropriated $1 million to demolish the National Register-listed building at Indiana School for the Deaf.

Old Marquette School

1905 College Avenue, South Bend

Rather than continue to endure demolition by neglect, South Bend’s Marquette School needs a developer who can repurpose the solidly constructed landmark.

Marion National Bank Building

402 South Washington Street, Marion

An out-of-state owner has not invested in critical repairs at Marion’s National Bank, while a leaking roof takes an escalating toll on the grand building.

Old YMCA

200 South Sixth Street, Terre Haute

Terre Haute’s 1939 YMCA played an important social and athletic role in the lives of thousands of citizens across more than three generations. The landmark needs a new owner who will get it back in shape.

Newkirk Mansion

371-321 Western Avenue, Connersville

With its arresting architecture and commanding site, the Newkirk Mansion deserves a better fate. It needs a new owner willing to restore and maintain it.

Round and Polygonal Barns

Around Indiana

Rare to begin with, round barns are becoming increasingly ill-suited to modern large-scale farming. Unless they can be modified to suit farming today, they are assets most farmers can’t afford to maintain.

Washington County Courthouse

Courthouse Square, Salem

At the center of the National Register-listed square, the 1888 courthouse towers over the landscape, but the tower is unstable and chronic roof and masonry leaks also require urgent attention.

Pryor’s Country Place

1540 West Fox Lake Road, Angola

Built in 1927 for African American vacationers during segregation, the vacant Fox Lake inn occupies a valuable five-acre lakefront site that’s for sale, putting the landmark in teardown jeopardy.

Speakman House

Old State Road 56, Rising Sun

You can see the Ohio River from the porches of one of Indiana’s great historic houses, built in 1846 and reputedly an Underground Railroad site. But the roof leaks and the porches are collapsing.

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