11 Most Endangered Historic Places President Lincoln's Cottage
Year Listed: 2000 Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Threat: Deterioration, Natural Forces, Neglect Abraham Lincoln
spent one quarter of his presidency at his summer residence, the
Soldiers' Home, where he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation.
The home, also known as Anderson Cottage, is located on the
grounds of the 320-acre campus of the Armed Forces Retirement
Home, just north of Washington, D.C. This national treasure
lacked the financial resources for a much-needed restoration
that would bring it to the forefront of America's historical
consciousness. This Gothic Revival cottage suffered from the
effects of time, use, and stress. Over the years, it has been
transformed from a country cottage to a soldiers' home, to a
heavily used office building. Due to a shrinking financial base
for upkeep, only the most basic repairs had been made to the
cottage. Seeping water in the basement, rotting wood windows,
and antiquated electrical and plu