Article

2016 National Historic Landmark Designations

Large black and white boat in water.
Badger departing Ludington, Michigan, on May 23, 2009. View of starboard side
heading roughly west.

Photo courtesy of William M. Worden, National Park Service.

S.S. Badger:
Ludington, Michigan

The S.S. Badger was recognized in February 2016 as an outstanding example of American ingenuity in transportation technology. One of two of the largest ferries ever to sail Lake Michigan, and the last remaining Great Lakes rail/car ferry in operation, the S.S. Badger was first launched in 1953 and designed specifically to handle the conditions of year-round passage on Lake Michigan. Built originally to transport railroad freight cars, and equipped with superior passenger accommodations, the S.S. Badger now transports leisure passengers and vehicles to destinations on both sides of Lake Michigan, connecting U.S. Highway 10 between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Townhouse units with large windows surrounded by orange and green trees.
Lafayette Park townhouse units, looking southwest.

Photo courtesy of Quinn Evans Architects.

Lafayette Park:
Detroit, Michigan

Lafayette Park in Detroit was designated as a National Historic Landmark in August 2015. It represents one of the earliest-planned and most successful urban renewal projects of the mid-twentieth century. Meant to stem the tide of middle and upper-income families leaving for the suburbs, it succeeded in creating an ethnically diverse community that continues to thrive today. This site is significant for its collaborative design scheme between the Modern movement’s most influential originators, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, developer Herbert Greenwald, planner Ludwig Hilberseimer, and landscape architect Alfred Caldwell. Lafayette Park has the largest collection of Mies van der Rohe buildings in the world, and retains a high degree of integrity for both its architecture and designed landscape.
Originally published in "Exceptional Places" Vol. 11, 2016, a newsletter of the Division of Cultural Resources, Midwest Region. Written by National Park Service Staff.

Last updated: June 20, 2018