Wow. As a Chicagoan, I couldn’t disagree more. Since I was a child (b. 1975), it was the building that defined the city to me.
For me the statue of Liberty is as much the poem bolted to it, as the statue itself: it makes it mean what it means. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” It is what is best about America. If the statue falls, we’ll make a new one. Destroying that idea however, that would change us forever. If the gateway Arch were to fall over, it’d be noteworthy, but not in and of itself tragic. But if the US stops being forward looking and eager to build a future, that’s tragic.
70% of americans would not pick the correct bridge, if you put brooklyn bridge in a lineup.
As for having the same impact as Notre Dame has on the french… nope.
Maybe, possibly the White House or Statue of Liberty. Both of these are visually instantly identifiable to most people, and bear a large measure of national pride. But neither inspires the sort of devotion that, for example, St. Paul’s cathedral in London has. It comes with America being so very young.
It would need to be someplace that has immense cultural AND religious significance, AND that is recognized by virtually all the citizens of the country on sight.
The American sites that fit the criteria on one aspect, fail on the others.
For example, the Arch of St. Louis would be recognized by just about anyone. But who knows why it is there? To most, it is just a piece of decor.
Mar A Lago. Can you imagine the grief and rage if it burned to the ground? Some might celebrate but 100 million Americans would lose their minds.
Hah! You called it the Sears Tower! You DO have an emotional attachment!
I think there is a critical additional fact that people are missing: Notre Dame was visited 13M times per year! That means a tremendous number of people (around the world) have a personal connection with it. Nowhere in the U.S. approaches that number. White House- a couple of hundred per day. Capitol maybe a couple of thousand. The Lincoln Memorial would definitely my choice in Washington just due to most visitors and it being a “heart” of the country with MLK and other famous speeches.
Distances in France were measured from Paris Point Zero in front of Notre Dame! No where in the U.S. has such a point.
Shooting down other ideas:
-Mount Rushmore - as a former South Dakotan, there was discussion of putting Reagan on there at one point as well as it being on stolen land… it is just not that revered. There was an Onion article 20 years back: “South Dakota might, just might put Mt. Rushmore on their quarter.”
-Corn Palace - has my vote 
-Independence Hall/ Liberty Bell- I have been to Philadelphia 10x and never considered visiting either. They just aren’t in the public consciousness.
Statue of Liberty may be a contender. I also like the Golden Gate and Brooklyn Bridges.
But my addition is Half Dome in Yosemite or Old Faithful in Yellowstone. Iconic, well visited and more a part of our identity than any single building.
Someday, that Super-Volcano is gonna blow, and that whole part of the world will be wiped off the face of the earth.
I heard it was going to be in 2021. Better hurry and visit if you haven’t.
If I visited it would blow up faster. So, out of the kindness of my heart I’m staying back. Dang, I wanted to see that, too.
I love the Statue of Liberty and all, but if it burnt to the ground, I think we’d just build another one. The Statue of Liberty is mostly seen; the Notre Dame cathedral is experienced. People pray there. Royalty, Napoleon…they were coronated there. It’s a place where Parisians have gathered in or around for nearly 9 centuries and people were building it for 2 centuries prior to that.
I think that you need to look at the cultural significance from a non-USian perspective, and the only things likely to trigger that kind of ‘rest of the world’ emotional response would likely be Statue of Liberty - which might even mean more to Europeans than it does for Americans due to its connection with European immigration - and destruction of the Empire State building.
Pretty much everything else that has been named might well have lots of significance to Americans, but to the rest of the world, not so much
The majority of those churches which took decades or centuries to build were in use waaaaay before they were officially finished (those which actually were officially finished rather than simply running out of gas), and Notre Dame appears to be one of those which replaced an older, smaller structure (such were often removed only after the new structure was considered advanced enough). The Sagrada Familia isn’t finished yet; the first Mass in its central nave took place before the nave’s ceiling was put in, but at that point there had been daily Masses in the crypt for about a hundred years (with some interruptions due to social disruption).
To those of you saying the World Trade Centers… do you think it would still be that way if there was no loss of life? Because to me that was what made it tragic. The loss of life, the feeling of vulnerability that we were attacked on American soil. In my mind, It wasn’t buildings that made the event iconic.
The Lincoln Memorial, now that is a pretty good answer, in my opinion, or even the statue of Liberty. If either of those somehow caught on fire; and were gutted, that would bring some pretty strong emotions.
The Statue of Liberty would be the worst, imo, but it would look really cool if it was on fire.
I’m glad that Mt. Rushmore has been mentioned but I’m surprised how unmoved everyone here seems to be by the idea of losing it. I will forever be in awe of how it was carved by glaciers over thousands of years. If you use your imagination you can almost see people’s faces among the craggy outcrops.
I agree with “nothing.” I think it is fair to say that even as an American, I had more of an emotional reaction to Notre Dame burning than I would have any building in the United States.
I also agree that the emotion from 9/11 was not because of the loss of the buildings, but because of the fact that we were attacked and that lives were lost.
I agree the White House could meet the criteria. Unless Trump was inside and consumed by the fire as this would present the country with a moral dilemma.
Have you been to Paris? Are you a history buff?
My gf has visited France several times and has been to Notre Dame. The fire really affected her. She went through her vacation pictures with me and was close to tears a few times.
On the other hand, I’ve never been there and I’m not really into history. If I won a trip to Paris I’d take the cash equivalent. I felt bad for the French people, but that was about it.
win.
I’m in the camp that the US doesn’t really have anything lite like Notre Dame. Closest I came up with is Disneyland also. Not so much Disney World- it’s a sequel. Disneyland is a place where people have great memories, has a bit of history, especially in the context of California, and is a monument to the great American ideal that you can start small and become an icon.
The Golden Gate Bridge going down would break hearts here in California and not just because of the traffic problems. It’s an icon of the state. I just did a Google image search on “California” and got four kinds of images: maps, beaches, traffic and the GG Bridge.