Oldest buildings in the United States

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The Fairbanks House (1636) is the oldest timber frame house in North America.
The Fairbanks House (1636) is the oldest timber frame house in North America.

·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 that were not part of the orginal thirteen colonies in 1776.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
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
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
Old House Cutchogue, New York 1649 Oldest house in New York State, moved to present site from Southold in 1661
Pieter Claesen 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]
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]
Wren Building Williamsburg, Virginia 1690 Oldest school building in America, original College of William and Mary structure[12]
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]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links and refernces

  1. ^ "Old Santa Fe: A Brief Review of History, 1536-1912" by James J. Raciti (2003) pg. 38
  2. ^ "Modern Perspectives in Western Art History: An Anthology - Page 315 by W. Eugene Kleinbauer, Medieval Academy of America - 1989
  3. ^ Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 218 (accessed on Google Book Search)
  4. ^ "Historic Churches of America" - Page 8 by Nellie Urner Wallington (1907)
  5. ^ [Elsie Lathrop "Historic Houses of Early America" (Kessinger, New York: 2006) pg. 305 (accessed on Google Book Search)]
  6. ^ "Guide to New York City Landmarks" - Page 270 by Andrew Dolkart, Matthew A. Postal (2003)
  7. ^ "Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States" Page 209 by Patricia Chambers Walker, Thomas Graham (1999)
  8. ^ There is no archaeological or documentary evidence for this, but the theory has persisted since the early 19th century
  9. ^ William F. McNeil, "Visitors to Ancient America" (McFarland: 2004), 78.
  10. ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 1036 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
  11. ^ National Park Service description of Old Ship Church
  12. ^ Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America - Page 697 by James D. Kornwolf, Georgiana Wallis Kornwolf (2002)
  13. ^ Oldest House Museum. Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs (2007-09-23).