[Leon Harris, Cnn Anchor:] Some of this country's heritage is in grave danger of becoming history. The place where Abe Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation is one of these places.
[Carol Lin, Cnn Anchor:] That's right. And today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation releases its list of the 11 most endangered places. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is at one of them this morning. Hi, Bob.
[Bob Franken, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. And behind me is Anderson Cottage, which you probably have not heard of if you're like most of us. And that's exactly the point. But Leon told us just a moment ago this was Abraham Lincoln's retreat. This is where Abe Lincoln would come three miles by horseback from the White House to think, to work, to write the Emancipation Proclamation, as Leon pointed out. It's in a 14-room cottage, still on the Soldiers and Airmen's grounds, the retirement grounds here about three miles from the White House in Washington 14-room cottage. It's in disrepair, says the Historic Preservation Organization, and needs some sort of money put aside to improve a building that does now have so much history, but it's being used right now as an office building and allowed to fall into disrepair. As I mentioned, there are a 11 structures and monuments and different organizations around the country that are on this year's 11 endangered list. They include everything from the Anderson Cottage to the Dwight Eisenhower Medical Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. Although it's named after President Eisenhower, it was originally a Civil War veterans hospital. They also are including all the historic neighborhood schools in the United States; ones that are being brought down, replaced, perhaps, by more modern schools. And with that goes a lot of history. Also included on the list, the Hudson River Valley, the entire valley so historic, the home to so many artists being overtaken by sprawl and industrialization. In Pittsburgh, there is the Fifth and Forbes market area. That is a business area that includes many buildings that were put up during the early 20th century. They are coming down, the trust says, because of an entertainment center that is going up there, and they want to, in fact, stop that. The entire island of Nantucket in Massachusetts is also named. It's being overtaken by development. The Okeechobee Battlefield, which was the site of a tremendous battle with the Seminole Indians, that one is being overtaken by development; the Red Mountain mining area in Colorado; the Santa Anita Racetrack, so famous as an art deco racetrack near Los Angeles which was the home of so many movie stars, is being modernized, and the trust believes that its character is being taken away. There's Valley Forge, and then there's the Wheelock Academy, which was a school in Oklahoma for Choctaw Indian women, also being overtaken by development. The trust says that history must be preserved, that once you get rid of the past it can never be returned. It's going to make a big deal today of trying to come with its announcement, to try and overtake the developers who want to get rid of some of the history, they say. The developers, of course, say you can't stop progress Carol.
[Lin:] Well, progress is the matter of a definition. Thanks so much, Bob.