Historic preservation in Washington State needs your help.
In 2025, history and preservation have come under attack.
At the federal level, staffing levels at the National Park Service—our country’s biggest steward of historic sites and cultural landscapes—have been slashed. Policies safeguarding cultural resources like the National Environmental Policy Act have been cut off at the knees. The Smithsonian and other museums are being pressured to whitewash American history. Most recently, the East Wing of the White House was summarily demolished, without agency consultation or public feedback.
Even at the state level, it’s a battle. In the spring, state legislation passed that reversed decades of precedent in how local communities can determine for themselves what historic buildings to preserve. In July, the Ryan House, which stood as a cornerstone of downtown Sumner for more than 150 years, was demolished by the City of Sumner in the middle of the night to avoid public outcry. In October, the City of Des Moines hosted demolition hearings for the former Masonic Home of Washington, a stunning, 120,000-square-foot building known as “the Landmark on the Sound.”
These certainly feel like bleak times for historic preservation, but at the Washington Trust, we’re not giving up. We know firsthand that our state’s historic places are irreplaceable, not just as buildings but as our shared cultural heritage. They’re the places around which communities build their identity, around which generations come together—where people can reckon with the triumphs and mistakes of the past and where new dreams of citizenship, entrepreneurship, and prosperity can flourish. Our historic places also hold solutions to many of the problems we face today, like housing, social justice, and environmental sustainability.
If you believe as we do, join us. Help us fight for historic preservation in this dark hour. Make a year-end donation to the Washington Trust today. Your support has never been more critical. Together, we can weather the storm and persevere in our mission to save the places that matter.