Malea Martin

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When the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee was completed in 1893, the lobby ceiling’s curved skylight served as the centerpiece of the opulent space. But by the late 1930s, an added roof enclosure blocked it, and the skylight was eventually painted over.

In each Transitions section of Preservation magazine, we highlight places of local and national importance that have recently been restored, are currently threatened, have been saved from demolition or neglect, or have been lost. Here are five from Summer 2025.

At Belle Grove, a former plantation and National Trust Historic Site near Middletown, Virginia, more than 270 adults and children were enslaved between 1783 and 1851 by Isaac Hite Jr. and his family.

In the aftermath of the Eaton and Palisades fires, which together claimed 31 lives and destroyed thousands of historic structures in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades neighborhoods, Los Angeles preservationists sprang into action to begin the recovery process.

At 250 feet long and 60 feet tall, the Botanical Building in San Diego is one of the largest lath structures in the world. Since its construction for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it has served as a plant-filled fixture of Balboa Park. But after decades of weather exposure, the building’s hundreds of redwood lath strips and original steel frame were deteriorating. Advocacy by nonprofit Forever Balboa Park led to an infusion of state funding for its restoration in 2019, and the 15,000-square-foot structure reopened to the public in December 2024.

What makes a college town? Perhaps it’s when campus boundaries creep past official ones, into historic main streets where students can be found taking your order at a decades-old pub or browsing produce alongside locals at the farmers’ market. Maybe it’s when longtime residents know the exact dates of summer break—their annual reprieve from the youthful chaos—and students call locals “townies” or some other mildly pejorative nickname. Or maybe it’s the ineffable feeling that this is a place where ideals and identities are taking shape.

Among the most notable Revolutionary War milestones was March 17, 1776, also known as Evacuation Day. After George Washington’s forces secretly fortified Dorchester Heights, a hilltop in what is now South Boston, the British Army retreated from the city, marking the end to the Siege of Boston. (See Preservation's feature story

In each Transitions section of Preservation magazine, we highlight places of local and national importance that have recently been restored, are currently threatened, have been saved from demolition or neglect, or have been lost. Here are five from Spring 2026.