The President's House has been named an endangered historic site. A Philly org is getting $25K to help keep it alive.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Published May 20, 2026, 8:01 a.m. ET
The President’s House Site on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall is one of the 11 most endangered historic sites in the United States due to President Donald Trump’s administration’s targeting of the exhibit, according to a new list from a major historic preservation organization. Produced annually by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the “11 Most Endangered” list aims to bring widespread awareness and visibility to various historic sites throughout the country that are in jeopardy.
The sites on this year’s list were selected by the organization’s staff and are related to the 250th anniversary of the United States and the ideals associated with the nation’s founding. “It’s a really powerful and important part of educating ourselves to be citizens who can live up to the ideals that we’re celebrating in the 250th,” said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in an interview at the President’s House last month.
Designating the site at Sixth and Market Streets, which memorializes the nine people enslaved by George Washington at his Philadelphia residence, as endangered is notable given the Trump administration dismantled the exhibit in January before some of it was reinstalled a month later following a federal judge’s order.
The administration is also continuing its legal attempts to drastically change the site ahead of the celebrations in Philadelphia this summer. “This place exemplifies that tension and also the threat of erasure, which comes when the government dictates what any site can say, but also when the process of freedom of inquiry is interrupted,” Quillen said. The President’s House is the only site on the list from Pennsylvania.
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/preservation-alliance-greater-philadelphia-presidents-house-endangered-historic-sites-grant-20260520.html
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143603365
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143618692 (includes earlier references)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143619531