List of the oldest buildings in the United States
·This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings in United States of America built by Europeans (English, Spanish, Dutch, French) and Native Americans. The list also includes sites in current states and territories that were not part of the original thirteen colonies in 1776.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Building | Location | First Built | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Pueblo (Hisatsinom culture) ruins | New Mexico etc. | up to 1200s | Settlements long-abandoned, but some, particularly cliff-dwellings, very well preserved |
La Fortaleza | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1533 | oldest executive mansion in the New World |
Palace of the Governors | Santa Fe, New Mexico | 1610 | Oldest seat of colonial government[1] |
St. Luke's Church (Smithfield, Virginia) | Smithfield, Virginia | 1632 | Oldest Church in the United States, National Historic Landmark[2] |
Fairbanks House | Dedham, Massachusetts | 1636 | Oldest house in the United States of timber-frame[3] |
Jamestown Church | Jamestown, Virginia | 1639 | Oldest building in Jamestown, the 1st British settlement[4] |
Henry Whitfield House | Guilford, Connecticut | 1639 | Oldest stone American Colonial house[5]; oldest house in Connecticut |
House on De Vargas Street | Santa Fe, New Mexico | 1646 | Oldest house extant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. |
Old House | Cutchogue, New York | 1649 | Oldest house in New York State, moved to present site from Southold in 1661 |
Wyckoff House | Brooklyn, New York | 1652 | Oldest house in New York City[6] |
Bronck House | Coxsackie, New York | 1663 | Oldest house in upstate New York |
Richard Jackson House | Portsmouth, New Hampshire | 1665 | Oldest house in New Hampshire[7] |
Newport Tower (Rhode Island) | Newport, Rhode Island | ca. 1670 or pre-1492 | Viking structure[8] or colonial windmill.[9] No roof or floors since the mid-18th century |
White Horse Tavern (Rhode Island) | Newport, Rhode Island | 1673 | Oldest tavern in America[10] |
Clement Weaver House | East Greenwich, Rhode Island | 1679 | Oldest privately-owned house in Rhode Island |
Smith's Castle | Wickford, Rhode Island | 1678 | One of the oldest houses in Rhode Island |
Old Ship Church | Hingham, Massachusetts | 1681 | Oldest church made of wood and continuously used as a church[11] |
Old Indian Meeting House | Mashpee, Massachusetts | 1684 | Oldest Native American church |
Wren Building | Williamsburg, Virginia | 1690 | Oldest school building in America, original College of William and Mary structure[12] |
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1700 | Oldest surviving building in Philadelphia |
Gonzalez-Alvarez House | St. Augustine, Florida | ca. 1723 | Oldest house in St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.[2] [13] |
Touro Synagogue | Newport, Rhode Island | 1763 | Oldest synagogue in the United States[14] |
Fort Pitt Blockhouse | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 1764 | Oldest British colonial structure west of the Allegheny Mountains. |
Tripp House | Scranton, Pennsylvania | 1771 | Oldest home in Scranton and Lackawanna County. |
See also
- List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
- List of the oldest buildings in New York
- List of the oldest buildings in Rhode Island
External links and references
- ^ "Old Santa Fe: A Brief Review of History, 1536-1912" by James J. Raciti (2003) pg. 38
- ^ "Modern Perspectives in Western Art History: An Anthology - Page 315 by W. Eugene Kleinbauer, Medieval Academy of America - 1989
- ^ Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 218 (accessed on Google Book Search)
- ^ "Historic Churches of America" - Page 8 by Nellie Urner Wallington (1907)
- ^ [Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 305 (accessed on Google Book Search)]
- ^ "Guide to New York City Landmarks" - Page 270 by Andrew Dolkart, Matthew A. Postal (2003)
- ^ "Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States" Page 209 by Patricia Chambers Walker, Thomas Graham (1999)
- ^ There is no archaeological or documentary evidence for this, but the theory has persisted since the early 19th century
- ^ William F. McNeil, "Visitors to Ancient America" (McFarland: 2004), 78.
- ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 1036 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
- ^ National Park Service description of Old Ship Church
- ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 697 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
- ^ "Oldest House Museum". Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. 2007-09-23.
- ^ Pencak, William (2005). Jews & Gentiles in Early America: 1654–1800. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press., pg. 92, 95 ISBN 0-472-11454-9.