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Requiescat in Pace
Fire and natural disasters have always claimed significant architecture, but the end of many Prairie School buildings has come because of greed and ignorance. Most are residences, many in cities and towns without preservation ordinances, and are often set on large lots that make them easy targets of the current teardown mania. Many PS buildings have also been lost because of ignorance of their significance or the vandalism of deferred maintenance. What follows is a very incomplete listing in no particular order of some of the landmarks that have been lost. While we can’t protect buildings against tornados or earthquakes, we can educate the public about the loss of historic buildings from entirely preventable causes. • • • The Larkin Company Administration Building
After years of neglect and vandalism, sold for $500 and demolished, 1950 • • • Sedgwick S. Brinsmaid House
Demolished, 1971 • • • Francis W. Little House
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1912 • • • J.S. Marsh House
Walter Burley Griffin, 1910 • • • Beggs House
Walter Burley Griffin, 1910 • • • Thomas Alva Edison School
Demolished, 1991 • • • Washington Irving School
Demolished, 2003 • • • W.S. Carr House
Damaged by insensitive alterations, eventually razed, 2004 • • • The Livestock National Bank
Demolished after neglect and fire, 2003 • • • The Black House
Stealthily demolished for as-yet-unbuilt condos, 2004 • • • First Church of Christ, Scientist
Demolished, August 1985; now an empty lot. • • • Edward W. Decker House
Razed, 1948 • • • Madison State Bank Building
Demolished, 1968 • • • Hegg Building
Torn down to make way for Kmart, 1980 • • • E.L. King House, “Rockledge”
Demolished, 1987 • • • Midway Gardens
Demolished, 1929 • • • Wilbur & Etta Wynant House
Suspected arson, 2006 • • • Liberty Stake First Ward Chapel
Razed, 1976 • • • Ann Arbor Masonic Temple
Razed for a parking lot, 1975 • • • Riverside Country Club
Demolished, 1930s • • • Lincoln School
Demolished. • • • Charles & Josephine Lindsley House
Demolished. • • • A special page of lost Florida buildings can be found here.
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