Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Announces Its 2026 List of State’s 10 Places in Peril

ATLANTA, Feb. 25, 2026 — The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation released today its 2026 list of 10 Places in Peril in the state.

Sites on the list include: Boggs Rural Life Center in Keysville (Burke County); Civilian Conservation Corps Camp at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge (Morgan County); Egleston Hall at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta (Fulton County); Legion Pool at the University of Georgia in Athens (Clarke County); McCranie Turpentine Still in Willacoochee (Atkinson County); Orange Hall in St. Marys (Camden County); Salem Campground in Covington (Newton County); Thomas L. Bell Memorial Ballpark in Americus (Sumter County); Union Brothers and Sisters Mission Hall in Meridian (McIntosh County); and Wayne County Courthouse in Jesup (Wayne County).

“Places in Peril is about awareness and opportunity,” said W. Wright Mitchell, president and CEO of the Trust. “This is the Trust’s twenty-first annual Places in Peril list, and we hope it will continue to bring preservation solutions to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources by highlighting ten representative sites.”

Places in Peril is designed to raise awareness about Georgia’s significant historic, archaeological and cultural resources, including buildings, structures, districts, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes that are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy.

Recent updates involving sites on past years’ lists include:

  • The Eleanor Roosevelt School in Warm Springs, the country’s last constructed Rosenwald School, is now undergoing the second phase of rehabilitation.
  • A Fulton County judge ordered a condominium homeowners association to maintain and allow access to Piney Grove Cemetery in Atlanta, a historic African American burial ground on the condo association’s property. The cemetery had previously been overgrown and inaccessible.
  • The Cross Roads Rosenwald School in Dixie (Brooks County) was added to the National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for grants and tax credits.
  • The Central State Hospital campus in Milledgeville has taken a major step toward revitalization, as the Local Redevelopment Authority finalized a deal with a developer to invest approximately $40 million in rehabilitating the long-threatened Jones, Green and Walker buildings for apartment and mixed housing use.
  • The 1939 Kit Jones boat, once at risk of being lost after years in disrepair, has been returned to McIntosh County, restored and permanently installed at a new park in Darien, and is now commemorated with a Georgia Historical Society marker honoring its nearly 90-year maritime legacy.

Founded in 1973, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation works for the preservation and revitalization of Georgia’s diverse historic resources and advocates their appreciation, protection and use. As one of the country’s leading statewide, nonprofit preservation organizations, the Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for endangered properties acquired by its Revolving Fund and raises awareness of other endangered historic resources through an annual listing of Georgia’s Places in Peril. The Trust recognizes outstanding preservation efforts through its annual Preservation Awards, supports students and professionals with the Neel Reid Prize and Liz Lyon Fellowship, and offers a range of grant programs dedicated to protecting and preserving historic places throughout the state. The Trust offers a variety of educational programs for adults and children, provides technical assistance to property owners and historic communities, advocates for funding, tax incentives and other laws aiding preservation efforts, and manages two house museums in Atlanta (Rhodes Hall) and Macon (Hay House).

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Editor’s Note: Summary information on each 2026 Place in Peril follows. For additional background material and more information on each site, please go to www.georgiatrust.org/our-programs/places-in-peril/.

Hi-res images can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/placesinperil2026.

President and CEO W. Wright Mitchell is available for in-person and telephone interviews. Email trothwell@georgiatrust.org or call 404-885-7802.

Summary Information on each ‘Places in Peril’ Site
For more information on each site, please go to www.georgiatrust.org/our-programs/places-in-peril/. Hi-res images can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/placesinperil2026.

Boggs Rural Life Center, Keysville (Burke County)
Founded in 1906, Boggs Academy was a nationally respected boarding school that educated generations of African American students through academics, vocational training and moral leadership. Today the Boggs Rural Life Center continues this legacy, but decades of deferred maintenance and failing roofs now threaten several historic campus buildings, placing this significant rural landmark at risk of permanent loss.

Civilian Conservation Corps Camp at Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge (Morgan County)
Established in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at Hard Labor Creek State Park is the last surviving CCC camp in Georgia and one of only a few nationwide. Today, limited funding, deterioration, and the risk of vandalism threaten the remaining historic buildings, placing this rare New Deal-era site in peril.

Egleston Hall at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Atlanta (Fulton County)
Egleston Hall is a 1918 Gothic Revival building on the All Saints’ Episcopal Church campus in Midtown Atlanta, designed by Morgan and Dillon. Its horseshoe-shaped plan reflects the Akron Plan, a once-popular religious building design that allowed flexible instruction through movable partitions surrounding a central hall. Long used for education and performance, the building now faces an uncertain future following structural impacts from nearby construction and ongoing redevelopment planning, placing this architecturally significant resource at risk.

Legion Pool at the University of Georgia, Athens (Clarke County)
Opened in 1936, Legion Pool is a Works Progress Administration-era recreational landmark on the University of Georgia campus and a long-standing gathering place for students and the Athens community. Identified as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the pool is now at risk for demolition in connection with plans to replace it with expanded green space and additional parking. The Board of Regents has signed off on demolition, and the university has received a demolition permit for the pool.

McCranie Turpentine Still, Willacoochee (Atkinson County)
Built in 1936, the McCranie Turpentine Still is the last intact, wood-burning turpentine still remaining in its original location in Georgia and a rare survivor of the state’s naval stores industry. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the site is now threatened by storm damage from Hurricane Helene, ongoing deterioration and limited resources for stabilization and repair.

Orange Hall, St. Marys (Camden County)
First listed as a Place in Peril in 2012, Orange Hall is a mid-19th-century Greek Revival landmark and the most architecturally significant historic building in St. Marys. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the civic landmark has suffered from long-standing structural issues and deferred maintenance, placing it at risk without continued stabilization and restoration efforts.

Salem Campground, Covington (Newton County)
Established in 1828, Salem Campground is one of Georgia’s oldest and most intact religious camp meeting sites, anchored by its 1854 tabernacle and historic family “tents.” The Cunningham-Ramsey Tent, built around 1840, is the oldest on the grounds and one of fewer than ten surviving pre-1850 camp meeting tents in Georgia. Aging structures and ground settlement now threaten these rare historic resources without comprehensive stabilization and restoration.

Thomas L. Bell Memorial Ballpark, Americus (Sumter County)
Opened in 1938, Thomas L. Bell Memorial Ballpark is a rare WPA-era wooden baseball stadium and a longtime center of sports and community life in Americus. While still in limited use, the construction of new athletic facilities leaves its future uncertain, placing this historic ballpark at risk without a clear preservation plan.

Union Brothers and Sisters Mission Hall, Meridian (McIntosh County)
Established in 1887, Union Brothers and Sisters Hall is a rare burial society hall founded by formerly enslaved African Americans in the historic Gullah Geechee community of Hudson. Rebuilt around 1900, it served as a center for mutual aid, education and community life. Years of vacancy, coastal weather exposure and limited maintenance now threaten this important cultural landmark without stabilization and reinvestment.

Wayne County Courthouse, Jesup (Wayne County)
Built in 1902-03, the Wayne County Courthouse is a Romanesque Revival landmark and long-standing center of county government in Jesup. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the courthouse was damaged by a fire in 2025, resulting in structural and water damage that now threatens this important civic building during stabilization and recovery efforts.

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