WASHINGTON — Three Frank Lloyd Wright structures and nine other sites in 10 states have been designated National Historic Landmarks.
The buildings by the famed American architect are the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pa., a glazed glass pyramidal tower built in the 1950s; the Aline Barnsdall Complex (Hollyhock House) in Los Angeles, lauded for emphasizing the relationship between the building and the landscape; and Price Tower in Bartlesville, Okla., a cantilevered 19-story building that today houses an arts center, hotel and restaurant. Wright considered Price Tower to be his only skyscraper.
Two Massachusetts sites were made National Historic Landmarks: a Gilded Age country estate known as Naumkeag, in Stockbridge; and the House of the Seven Gables Historic District, in Salem, which was recognized as an early 20th-century effort to preserve and restore older buildings, including one named for Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 book, "The House of the Seven Gables."
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Field House in St. Louis, Mo., was recognized for being the home of Roswell Field, the attorney who formulated the legal strategy that placed slave Dred Scott's lawsuit for freedom before the Supreme Court.
Two Ohio sites were named landmarks: Spring Grove Cemetery, in Cincinnati, considered the model for 19th-century landscaped cemetery design; and the village of Mariemont, described as "a premier model of an ideal planned community" with parks, schools, tree-lined streets and landscaping, a town center with retail stores, a variety of housing and public transportation to downtown Cincinnati.
Washington Place in Honolulu also made the list. Queen Lili'oukalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch, lived there from 1862 to her death in 1917. The building served as the executive mansion for territorial governors from 1918 to 1959, and then as the governor's mansion. It is now a museum.
Central Utah Relocation Center Site, in Millard County, Utah, became the fifth camp used to intern Japanese-Americans during World War II to be declared a national landmark.
Fig Island, near Charleston, S.C., was granted landmark status for its shell rings, which were built by groups of people who lived on the coast 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. The rings are circular walls of mounded shells from shellfish that were consumed during feasts.
The Hegeler Carus Mansion, LaSalle, Ill., a 57-room 1870s industrialist's mansion, was recognized as a rare surviving example of the residential work of W.W. Boyington, an important Chicago architect. For more information about the sites, visit www.cr.nps.gov/nhl.
