Every year, fire claims historic buildings, especially during renovations. A November blaze gutted the a courthouse in Upper Marlboro, Md. (Prince George's County Fire/Emergency Medical Services Dept.)

At year's end, Preservation magazine's editors chose 10 important wins and losses that made news in 2004.

Backdrafts

Just months before the end of the renovation of a 1939 Maryland county courthouse, fire gutted the 1939 building. Officials plan to rebuild.

In August, after a fire swept through a 199-year-old plantation, the owner of Laura Plantation also vowed to repair the tourism site, located in Vacherie, La.

That determination was impossible in Wisconsin, where an April fire reduced a 167-year-old restaurant to ruins.

"The integrity argument—that because a structure has lasted 85 years, it's not going to burn—doesn't hold up," architect Wayne Meyer told Preservation magazine. "Fire doesn't know if the building is on the National Register or not."

Read the cover story that investigates fires during renovations >>

Red Lights for Wal-Mart

Despite local protest, this year Wal-Mart opened a store in Mexico near 2,000-year-old pyramids. In New Orleans, residents debated a new store near the French Quarter. From to Oregon to Maryland, towns are saying no to Wal-Mart and its big-box profile.

Pave Paradise, Put up a Parking Lot

Extra, extra. An Oklahoma newspaper will live out the lyrics of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" (and the Counting Crows remake). In June, the Tulsa World announced its plans to raze a 1921 building for a parking lot. In Chicago, Donald Trump said "You're fired" to the much-reviled 1955 headquarters of the Chicago Sun-Times, which was demolished in October to make way for a Trump Tower.

Fines for Illegal Demolitions

On an August night, in Bend, Ore., the owners of a 67-year-old crane shed in Bend, Ore., demolished the city landmark without a permit. Two months later, however, the city slapped them with a $100,000 fine. In Phoenix, the owner of an 1899 Victorian house on the city's historic register tore it down without a demolition permit, leaving the city with only 25 19th-century houses. Now city officials are considering a fine or even jail time for the owner, who is a Maricopa County supervisor.

Sheer Poetry

Stolen two decades ago, a gate that guarded Emily Dickinson's grave was found in an antiques store this year. It's now back where it belongs in Amherst, Mass. The town's Emily Dickinson Homestead acquired the house next door to Emily's house, the Evergreens, and expanded into the 1856 mansion.

Hurricanes Hit Florida and its Historic Sites

Four hurricanes pummeled Florida in August and September, killing almost 2,000 people in Haiti before hitting the U.S. mainland. Several of Florida's historic sites were damaged in a hurricane season that could be the costliest on record. After the winds subsided, the state struggled to clean up debris and assess the damage.

Church and States

Across the country, dioceses are closing historic churches, leaving historic buildings empty and vulnerable to demolition. In New York City, St. Thomas the Apostle, a grand cathedral built in 1907, has been closed since August 2003. This year, we looked at three churches in Harlem that illustrate a nationwide problem.

Curtains Rise on Two Grand Theaters

Boston's Opera House and Baltimore's Hippodrome reopened after dazzling renovations this year. And a happy ending for the Fox Theatre in California: a surprise $1 million donation rescued it from demolition.

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