List of the oldest buildings in the United States

This article attempts to list the oldest extant freestanding buildings constructed in the United States of America by Europeans (English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Swedish, Germans), Africans, Native Americans and other immigrants and native born people. The list also includes sites in current states and territories that were not part of the original Thirteen Colonies when the United States of America was founded in 1776. Sites on the list are generally from the First Period of American architecture or earlier.

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Building	Image	Location	State	First Built	Use	Notes
Ancestral Puebloan communities		New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah.	NM AZ CO UT	750 - Pueblo construction begins in AD 750 and continues to present	Villages	Majority of settlements abandoned, but some very well preserved. Buildings have been within the U.S. since 1848, when New Mexico was annexed.
Taos Pueblo		north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico	NM	1000 - Built between 1000 and 1450 AD	Residential	Said to be the oldest continuously inhabited houses still occupied. Buildings have been within the U.S. since 1848, when New Mexico was annexed.[1]
Acoma Pueblo		on top of a 367-foot (112 m) sandstone mesa in Cibola County, New Mexico	NM	1000- Built between 1000 and 1200 AD	Residential	Said to be the oldest continuously inhabited site in the U.S.. Buildings have been within the U.S. since 1848, when New Mexico was annexed.
Cathedral of San Juan Bautista		Old San Juan, Puerto Rico	PR	1521	Religious	Oldest church building on US soil (extensive additions and renovations). The Cathedral has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
La Fortaleza		San Juan, Puerto Rico	PR	1533	Government	Oldest executive mansion in the New World. Extensive reconstructions took place. Building has been within the U.S. since 1898 when Puerto Rico was annexed.
Palace of the Governors		Santa Fe, New Mexico	NM	1610	Government	Oldest seat of colonial government (Spanish). Building has been within the U.S. since 1848, when New Mexico was annexed.[2]
San Miguel Mission		Santa Fe, New Mexico	NM	1610	Government	Said to be the oldest church structure built in the USA. The original adobe walls and altar were built by the Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico, but much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710. Building has been within the U.S. since 1848 when New Mexico was annexed.[3]
St. Luke's Church		Smithfield, Virginia	VA	1632 (or 1682)	Religious	Said to be the oldest church in the United States in one of the thirteen original colonies, National Historic Landmark[4]
Fairbanks House		Dedham, Massachusetts	MA	1637	Residential	Oldest house in the United States of timber-frame with date verified using dendrochronology.[5]
C. A. Nothnagle Log House		Gibbstown	NJ	ca. 1638-43	Residential	Purportedly the oldest surviving log house in the U.S. and the oldest house in New Jersey
Jamestown Church		Jamestown, Virginia	VA	1639	Religious	Oldest building in Jamestown, the 1st British settlement[6]
Henry Whitfield House‎		Guilford, Connecticut	CT	1639	Residential	Oldest stone American Colonial house[7]; oldest house in Connecticut
Loomis Homestead		Windsor, Connecticut	CT	1640	Residential	one of the oldest timber-frame houses in America. The oldest part of the house was built in 1640 by Joseph Loomis who came to America from England in 1638 [1][2]. Later additions to the Loomis house were made around the turn of the eighteenth century. The house is now adjacent to the Loomis Chaffee school.
Sparrow House		Plymouth, Massachusetts	MA	1640	Residential	Oldest house in Plymouth, MA
De Vargas Street House		Santa Fe, New Mexico	NM	1646	Residential	Previously alleged be oldest house in the USA and Santa Fe.
Old House (Cutchogue)		Cutchogue, New York	NY	1649	Residential	One of the oldest houses in the state; moved in 1661 to present site from Southold
Pickering House		Salem	MA	1651	Residential	Oldest house in Salem, MA[8]
Wyckoff House		Brooklyn	NY	1652	Residential	Oldest house in New York City[9]
Block House		Claymont, Delaware	DE	1654	Residential	One of the oldest structures in Delaware, built by the Swedish
Bray House		Kittery Point, Maine	ME	1662 circa	Residential	Oldest house in Maine
Bronck House		Coxsackie, New York	NY	1663	Residential	Oldest house in upstate New York
Richard Jackson House		Portsmouth, New Hampshire	NH	1664	Residential	Oldest house in New Hampshire[10]
Bacon's Castle		Surry, Virginia	VA	1665	Residential	Oldest building with satisfactorily credible age authentication and in reasonably decent or better condition (i.e., not a ruin) still standing in the Commonwealth of Virginia; Also possibly the oldest brick building still standing in the United States
Alexander Standish House		Duxbury, Massachusetts	MA	1666	Residential	Home of the son of Pilgrim Capt. Miles Standish.
Peter Bulkeley Esq/Reuben Brown House		Concord, Massachusetts	MA	1667	Residential	Built in 1725 by the town saddler, Rueben Brown. There is also a strong tradition that the house was the home of Peter Bulkeley, which is why the house is often referred to as the Peter Bulkeley / Reuben Brown House. The date contributed to Peter Bulkeley is 1667, which also marks the date of his marriage to Rebecca Wheeler. The evidence is still unclear whether or not the Bulkeley's did build the house some 300 years ago. What historians can conclude is that the house was either completely updated or built by Rueben Brown in 1725.
Jabez Howland House		Plymouth, Massachusetts	MA	1667	Residential	Only extant house in Plymouth occupied by Pilgrims. John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley Howland, who both came over on the Mayflower, spent their winters here with their son, Jabez, one of their 10 children. Also a National Historic Landmark.[11]
House of the Seven Gables		Salem, Massachusetts	MA	1668	Residential	National Historic Landmark, setting of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel.
Isaac Goodale House		Built in Salem, Massachusetts; moved to Ipswich, MA in 1928.	MA	ca. 1668	Residential	On the National Register of Historic Places.
Chaplin-Clarke House		Rowley, Massachusetts	MA	1670	Residential
Newport Tower		Newport, Rhode Island	RI	1670, circa (disputed to be older)	Commercial	Colonial windmill.[12] No roof or floors since the mid-18th century
Castillo de San Marcos		St. Augustine, Florida	FL	1672-1695	Government	Oldest masonry fortification in the United States
White Horse Tavern		Newport, Rhode Island	RI	1673	Tavern	Oldest tavern in America[13]
Smith's Castle		Wickford, Rhode Island	RI	1678	Residential	Possibly the oldest house in Rhode Island, now a museum
Clement Weaver House		East Greenwich, Rhode Island	RI	1679	Residential	Oldest (privately-owned) house in Rhode Island.[14]
Paul Revere House		Boston	MA	1680 circa	Residential	Oldest building in downtown Boston.[15]
Old Ship Church		Hingham, Massachusetts	MA	1681	Religious	Oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States; only remaining 17th century Puritan meeting house in America[16]
Third Haven Meeting House		Talbot County, Maryland	MD	1682	Religious	Oldest building in Maryland. Oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States.
Caleb Pusey House		Upland, Pennsylvania	PA	1683	Residential	Oldest English-built house in Pennsylvania. Only extant building known to have been visited by William Penn. Completed in 1696.
Old Indian Meeting House		Mashpee, Massachusetts	MA	1684	Religious	Oldest Native American church
Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow		Sleepy Hollow, New York	NY	1685	Church	Oldest church in the State of New York.
Wren Building		Williamsburg, Virginia	VA	1690	School	Oldest school building in America, original The College of William & Mary structure[17]
Old Quaker Meeting House (Flushing, New York)		Flushing, Queens	NY	1694	Religious	The only surviving example in New York State of a typical 17th century ecclesiastical frame structure of medieval design.[18]
Merion Friends Meeting House		Merion Station	PA	1695	Religious	One of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in America.
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church)		Philadelphia	PA	1700	Religious	Oldest surviving church in Philadelphia
Old State House (Boston, Massachusetts)		Boston, Massachusetts	MA	1713	Government	Oldest surviving public building in Boston. The Bostonian Society Museum
Perth Amboy City Hall		Perth Amboy, New Jersey	NJ	1714-1717	Government	Oldest city hall in USA
Gonzalez-Alvarez House		St. Augustine, Florida	FL	1723 circa	Residential	Oldest house in St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.[2] [19]
Oxford Furnace		Oxford Township, New Jersey	NJ	1741	Furnace	First hot blast furnace in United States
Mount Holly Firehouse		Mount Holly, New Jersey	NJ	1752	Firehouse	Oldest firehouse in the USA, established by what is now the oldest continuously operating volunteer fire department in the USA[20][21]
Proprietary House		Perth Amboy, New Jersey	NJ	1762	Government	Oldest remaining colonial proprietary governor's residence in the original Thirteen States
Touro Synagogue		Newport, Rhode Island	RI	1763	Religious	Oldest synagogue building in the United States[22]
Fort Pitt Blockhouse		Pittsburgh	PA	1764	Government	Oldest structure in Pittsburgh. One of the oldest colonial structures west of the Allegheny mountains
Sandy Hook Light		Sandy Hook, New Jersey	NJ	1764	Lighthouse	Oldest original lighthouse in USA
Mission San Juan Capistrano		San Juan Capistrano, California	CA	1776	Mission	Oldest surviving building in California.
Burlington County Prison		Mount Holly, New Jersey	NJ	1811	Prison	Possibly oldest prison building, which operated from 1811 to 1965

See also

• List of the oldest buildings in Connecticut
• List of the oldest buildings in Delaware
• List of the oldest buildings in Maryland
• List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
• List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
• List of the oldest buildings in New York
• List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania
• List of the oldest buildings in Rhode Island
• List of the oldest buildings in Virginia
• List of the oldest buildings in the world
• List of burial mounds in the United States
• Oldest churches in the United States
• Oldest synagogues in the United States

References

1. ^ www.taospueblo.com (accessed October 3, 2009)
2. ^ "Old Santa Fe: A Brief Review of History, 1536-1912" by James J. Raciti (2003) pg. 38
3. ^ http://www.nosfarchives.org/sanmiguel.html
4. ^ "Modern Perspectives in Western Art History: An Anthology - Page 315 by W. Eugene Kleinbauer, Medieval Academy of America - 1989
5. ^ Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 218 (accessed on Google Book Search)
6. ^ "Historic Churches of America" - Page 8 by Nellie Urner Wallington (1907)
7. ^ [Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 305 (accessed on Google Book Search)]
8. ^ Pickering House
9. ^ "Guide to New York City Landmarks" - Page 270 by Andrew Dolkart, Matthew A. Postal (2003)
10. ^ "Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States" Page 209 by Patricia Chambers Walker, Thomas Graham (1999)
11. ^ [1]
12. ^ William F. McNeil, "Visitors to Ancient America" (McFarland: 2004), 78.
13. ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 1036 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
14. ^ [2]
15. ^ [3]
16. ^ National Park Service description of Old Ship Church
17. ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 697 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
18. ^ National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings, 1970
19. ^ "Oldest House Museum". Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. 2007-09-23. http://www.flheritage.com/services/sites/fht/record_t.cfm?ID=754&type=c&index=55. 
20. ^ http://www.mounthollyfd.com/history.htm
21. ^ http://firehistory.org/oldest-fd/oldest-paid/
22. ^ 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.

External links

• International Architecture database