Five buildings destroyed and eight saved. Considering that we predicted the imminent demise of all thirteen, we are more than happy to have been less than half right. A preservation ethic had taken root in America in 1970. We just weren’t aware of it yet. Although the urban renewal programs of that day seemed to be breeding upon themselves, growing ever larger and more destructive, preservation groups all over America were beginning to stand up and fight for our shared architectural heritage.

The threats to buildings in 1990 are very different. Today landmarks are being crushed into rubble not so much for reasons of urban renewal as for reasons of safety. Many buildings have simply been neglected for too long and are falling apart. Listed here, for example, is a wrecker’s dozen for the 1990s, thirteen endangered American landmarks. We say endangered rather than doomed because the National Trust (which, along with local preservation groups, was instrumental in putting this list together) is a much more influential organization in America than it was twenty years ago, and in twenty more years’ time all thirteen of these buildings may still be standing. Or so we hope.

Unalaska, Alaska

The Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, situated on an inlet in the Aleutian Islands, is the oldest church in Alaska; its earliest sections date to 1826. Topped by the traditional onion-shaped domes of the Russian Orthodox Church, it is filled with a rich collection of icons crafted by the Aleut people. Although the church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, it is in jeopardy because of serious deterioration. Ephraim, Utah The United Order Store was built in 1871 and 1872. This Mormon cooperative general store is one of the state’s best examples of Greek Revival architecture. It was the original location of Snow College, a small community school founded in 1888, and is one of only two existing Latter-day Saint United Order Stores in Utah. The building is threatened by deterioration, but a local group is raising funds to save it.

New York, New York

Located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the York Avenue Estate was built as model tenements between 1901 and 1913 in response to the appalling housing conditions of New York’s working poor. Constituting an entire block, the buildings are decorated with stylish details and curved pediments. Though designed as an experiment, the estate provided decent, attractive homes at affordable prices. They are threatened by the astounding rise in land values in this now wealthy neighborhood.

New London, Connecticut

The Rippin Cottage, which overlooks the Thames River, is where Eugene O’Neill recuperated from his first battle with tuberculosis and where he drafted some of his earliest plays during the winter of 1913-14. Built in the 186Os, the Carpenter Gothic cottage with picturesque dormer windows and scrolled brackets