List of the oldest buildings in the United States
This article lists the oldest extant, freestanding buildings constructed in the United States and its territories. The list includes sites in current states and territories which were not part of the original Thirteen Colonies when the United States of America was founded in 1776.
Pre-Columbian era
Building | Image | Location | State | First Built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ancestral Puebloan dwellings | ![]() |
New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah | NM AZ CO UT |
750 – Pueblo construction began in AD 750, and ended around 1300 AD with the third era of the Pueblo people. | Villages | Majority of settlements abandoned, but some very well preserved. Buildings have been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848. |
Chaco Canyon | ![]() |
New Mexico
(Between Albuquerque and Farmington) |
NM | 800 – "During the middle and late 800s, the great houses of Pueblo Bonito, Una Vida, and Peñasco Blanco were constructed, followed by Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Alto, and others."[1] | Residential,
Villages, City |
"The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid 800s and lasted more than 300 years."[1] |
Taos Pueblo | ![]() |
North of the modern city of Taos | NM | 1000 – Built between 1000 and 1450 | Residential | Said to be the oldest continuously inhabited houses still occupied. Buildings have been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848.[2] |
Acoma Pueblo | ![]() |
On top of a 367-foot (112 m) sandstone mesa in Cibola County | NM | 1000 – Built between 1000 and 1200 | Residential | Said to be the oldest continuously inhabited site in the United States. Buildings have been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848. |
Ocmulgee Earth Lodge | ![]() |
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park | GA | 1015 | Religious | Native American earth lodge. Restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. |
Cliff Palace | ![]() |
Mesa Verde National Park | CO | 1190 | Residential | Largest cliff dwelling in North America. Buildings have been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848. |
Malae Heiau | ![]() |
Wailua River State Park | HI | before 1200 | Religious | Largest heiau remaining on the Island of Kauai and one of the largest surviving temple platforms in the Hawaiian Islands. |
Casa Grande | ![]() |
Coolidge | AZ | c. 1200s | Religious | Hohokam structures built in the 13th century that includes a large 4 story structure that's protected by a New Deal era canopy. |
West Oak Forest Earthlodge Site | ![]() |
Glenwood | IA | c. 1250-1400 | Religious | Earthlodge built during the Woodland period of pre-Columbian history. Discovered and restored in 2009. |
House of Taga | ![]() |
Tinian | MP | before 1500 | Residential | The latte stone structure is believed to have been the home of a Chamorro chief. The structure has been on US territory since 1978 when the Northern Mariana Islands became a US commonwealth. |
16th century
Building | Image | Location | State | First Built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San José Church | ![]() |
Old San Juan | PR | 1532 | Religious | Part of the San Juan National Historic Site. Additions and renovations over the centuries. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. |
La Fortaleza | ![]() |
Old San Juan | PR | 1533 | Government | Part of the San Juan National Historic Site. Oldest executive mansion in the New World. Extensive reconstructions took place over the centuries. Building has been within the U.S. since 1898 when Puerto Rico was annexed. |
Castillo San Felipe del Morro | ![]() |
Old San Juan | PR | 1539 | Government | Part of the San Juan National Historic Site. Construction started in 1539, with extensive additions over the centuries. Building has been within the U.S. since 1898 when Puerto Rico was annexed. |
Cathedral of San Juan Bautista | ![]() |
Old San Juan | PR | 1540 | Religious | Part of the San Juan National Historic Site. Oldest church building in the U.S. and its territories, original built in 1521 on modern-day location (extensive additions and renovations). The cathedral has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. |
17th century
Building | Image | Location | State | First Built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Porta Coeli | ![]() |
San Germán | PR | 1609 | Religious | The church has been on US territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. |
Palace of the Governors | ![]() |
Santa Fe | NM | 1610 | Government | Oldest seat of colonial government (Spanish). Building has been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848.[3] |
A carpenter's shed | Gardiners Island | NY | 1639 | Residential | The oldest surviving wooden structure built in New York and was purportedly built when Lion Gardiner first settled on the island. | |
Thomas Bourne House | ![]() |
Marshfield | MA | 1639 c. | Residential | Located at 1308 Ocean Street;[4] House is believed to date from 1639.[5] |
Henry Whitfield House | ![]() |
Guilford | CT | 1640 | Residential | Oldest stone American Colonial house;[6] oldest house in Connecticut. |
Richard Sparrow House | ![]() |
Plymouth | MA | 1640 | Residential | Oldest house in Plymouth, Massachusetts. |
Samuel Lucius-Thomas Howland House | ![]() |
Plymouth | MA | 1640 c. | Residential | Located at 36 North Street near Plymouth Rock; House is believed to date from 1640.[7][8][5] |
Fairbanks House | ![]() |
Dedham | MA | 1641 | Residential | Oldest house in the United States of timber-frame construction. Oldest house in America verified using dendrochronology.[9] |
Edmond Hawes-Barker Hunt House | ![]() |
Duxbury | MA | 1641 c. | Residential | aka as the Edwin Hunt House at 8 Hounds Ditch Lane; House is believed to date from 1641.[10][11][12] |
Feake-Ferris House | Greenwich | CT | 1645 | Residential | ||
Shatswell Planter's Cottage | Ipswich | MA | 1646 c. | Residential | Currently located on the property at 53 Jeffrey's Neck Rd where it was moved in the twentieth century from another location: "originally located at 88-90 High Street [where it was] the earliest of the three First Period structures on the site, dating to before 1646"; House is believed to date from 1646.[13] | |
De Vargas Street House | ![]() |
Santa Fe | NM | 1646 | Residential | Previously claimed to be oldest house in the United States and Santa Fe. |
Wing Fort House | ![]() |
East Sandwich | MA | 1646[14] | Residential | Oldest home in New England continuously owned by the same family; now a museum.[14] |
Jamestown Church | ![]() |
Jamestown | VA | 1647 | Religious | Oldest church building in the original 13 colonies (though only the foundations remain from the original brick building). |
John Ellis House | ![]() |
Sandwich | MA | 1647[15] | Residential | located at 76 Main Street.[16] |
Pratt House | ![]() |
Essex | CT | 1648 | Residential | |
El Quartelejo Ruins | ![]() |
Scott City | KS | 1650 | Residential | Northernmost Indian pueblo and the only known pueblo located in Kansas and the Midwest. |
Farris Windmill | ![]() |
Dearborn | MI | 1650 | Agriculture | Oldest windmill built in the United States.[17] Originally built on Cape Cod, it was moved to The Henry Ford museum's Greenfield Village outdoor complex in the 1920's. |
Lower Swedish Cabin | ![]() |
Drexel Hill | PA | 1650 | Residential | One of the earliest extant examples of Swedish log construction in the United States.[18] |
Wyckoff House | ![]() |
Brooklyn | NY | 1652 | Residential | Oldest house in New York City.[19] |
Loomis Homestead | ![]() |
Windsor | CT | 1653 | Residential | One of the oldest timber-frame houses in America. The oldest part of the house was built betwwen 1640 and 1653 by Joseph Loomis, who came to Connecticut Colony from England in 1638. Later additions to the Loomis house were made around the turn of the 18th century. It is now a part of the Loomis Chaffee School. |
Mortonson-Van Leer Log Cabin | ![]() |
Swedesboro | NJ | 1654 | Residential | Historic cabin and one of the last historical dwellings in Swedesboro. |
Newman-Fiske-Dodge House | ![]() |
Wenham | MA | 1658 | Residential | Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. |
John Partridge House | ![]() |
Millis | MA | 1659[5] | Residential | |
Broad Bay Manor | ![]() |
Virginia Beach | VA | c. 1660 | Residential | Purportedly the oldest extant European-built house in the southeastern United States. Built by Thomas Allen either c. 1640[20] or c. 1660[21] on land granted to him by Governor Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr. The small center portion of what is now a much larger structure, it was primarily constructed from Flemish bond brick. Corroborative dating efforts have not been performed. It has always been a private residence. It is located in the Broad Bay Colony part of northeastern Virginia Beach.[22] |
Edward Harraden House | ![]() |
Gloucester | MA | 1660 | Residential | |
William Whipple House | ![]() |
Kittery | ME | 1660 | Residential | Oldest portion of home dates to circa 1660 and was birthplace of General William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence; located at 88 Whipple Road[23][24] Possibly the oldest house in Maine. |
Zachariah Hawkins House | ![]() |
Brookhaven | NY | 1660 | Residential | |
James Blake House | ![]() |
Boston | MA | 1661 | Residential | Oldest house in the city of Boston. Verified by Oxford Tree-Ring Dating Lab. |
John Bowne House | ![]() |
Flushing, Queens | NY | 1661 | Residential | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. |
Bronck House | ![]() |
Coxsackie | NY | 1663 | Residential | Oldest house in upstate New York. |
Richard Jackson House | ![]() |
Portsmouth | NH | 1664 | Residential | Oldest house in New Hampshire.[25] |
Pickman House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1664 | Residential | Located on Charter Street behind the Peabody Essex Museum, the oldest continually operated museum in America. The house abuts the Witch Memorial and is also next to the second oldest burying ground in America. The house is private, owned by the Peabody Essex Museum and not open for tours. |
Pickering House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1664 | Residential | Located in the Chestnut Street District. |
Thomas Lee House | ![]() |
East Lyme | CT | 1664 | Residential | One of the oldest wood-frame houses in Connecticut still in its primitive state. |
Deacon John Moore House | ![]() |
Windsor | CT | 1664 | Residential | Moore was also a woodworker known for using the foliated vine design, which depicts vines and blossoms carved in shallow relief with flat surfaces. |
Reverend James Keith Parsonage | ![]() |
West Bridgewater | MA | 1664 | Residential | Preserved and maintained by the Old Bridgewater Historical Society. |
Gedney House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1665 | Residential | Allegedly the second oldest house in the City of Salem, located in the Chestnut Street District and operated as a non-profit museum by Historic New England. The house is rarely open to the public, though private tours can be arranged. |
Bacon's Castle | ![]() |
Surry | VA | 1665 | Residential | Located at 465 Bacon's Castle Trail, this is perhaps the oldest intact building with satisfactorily credible age authentication still standing in the Commonwealth of Virginia (and perhaps the entire Southeastern region of the US) and one of the oldest brick buildings still standing in the United States. If Broad Bay Manor's age is authenticated, it could predate Bacon's Castle by up to 25 years. |
Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House | ![]() |
Staten Island | NY | 1665 c. | Residential | Built by Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot pioneer, the house is now a museum. |
Ryves Holt House | ![]() |
Lewes | DE | 1665 | Residential | Purportedly the oldest house in Delaware. |
Brewster House | ![]() |
East Setauket | NY | 1665 | Residential | One of the oldest houses on Long Island. |
Jabez Howland House | ![]() |
Plymouth | 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 ten children. Also a National Historic Landmark.[26] |
Dillingham House | ![]() |
Brewster | MA | 1667 | Residential | |
Robert Coles Homestead | Glen Cove | NY | 1668 | Residential | In May of 1668, Joseph Carpenter of Rhode Island negotiated with the Matinecock Indians to purchase several hundred acres of land on which to build a saw mill and grist mill in what was then Musketa Cove. Robert Coles was one of the "Five Proprietors of the Musketa Cove Patent" and was the first to build his homestead at what is now 34 The Place. He and his wife, Mercy Wright of Oyster Bay, had 9 children and lived in the eastern-most wing of the existing property which still stands today.[27] | |
House of the Seven Gables | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1668 | Residential | National Historic Landmark, setting of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel. |
Abraham Manee House | ![]() |
Staten Island | NY | 1670 | Residential | The Abraham Manee House, also known as the Manee-Seguine Homestead, is a three-part Colonial Dutch dwelling similar to the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House in Old Town, and was designated a New York City landmark in 1984. |
Zaccheus Gould House | ![]() |
Topsfield | MA | 1670 | Residential | |
Swett-Ilsley House | ![]() |
Newbury | MA | 1670 | Residential | |
Chaplin–Clarke House | ![]() |
Rowley | MA | 1670 | Residential | |
Cubberly-Britton Cottage | ![]() |
Staten Island | NY | 1671 | Residential | |
Merchant-Choate House | ![]() |
Ipswich | MA | 1671 | Residential | Also, known as Tuttle House (103 High Street). The House is dated from 1670/71.[28] Dendrochronology dating it from 1670s with some earlier beams and bracing, and possibly an earlier construction date.[29] |
White Horse Tavern | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1673 | Tavern | Oldest tavern in America.[30] Originally constructed in 1652 as a residence for judge Francis Brinley, converted to a tavern in 1673.[31] |
Brown House | ![]() |
Hamilton | MA | 1673 | Residential | |
Old Trinity Church, Maryland | ![]() |
Church Creek | MD | 1675 | Religious | Church building in continuous use; as such, oldest in the United States.[32] |
Narbonne House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1675 | Residential | The house is on the waterfront in Salem and is part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The site has 12 historic structures, including the Customs House, and a replica of the sailing ship Friendship of Salem. |
Hoxie House | ![]() |
Sandwich | MA | c. 1675 | Residential | One of the oldest houses on Cape Cod. |
The Witch House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | c. 1675 | Residential | Also called the Jonathan Corwin House, this was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin[33] and is the only structure still standing in Salem, Massachusetts with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692.[34] Even though Jonathan Corwin's descendants claim the house was built in 1642, most historians now believe the house was built c. 1675.[35] The house, located in the Chestnut Street District, is now a museum operated by the City of Salem and is open seasonally. |
Deane Winthrop House | ![]() |
Winthrop | MA | 1675 | Residential | The oldest part of the house was built about 1675 with an addition made in 1696. It is currently owned by the Winthrop Improvement and Historical Association and is open to visitors by appointment. |
Edward Sewall Garrison | ![]() |
Exeter | NH | 1676 | Residential | |
Old Senate House | ![]() |
Kingston | NY | 1676 | Governmental | New York State Constitution written and signed here. |
Lowland Cottage | Ware Neck | VA | 1676 | Residential. | ||
Edward Searle House | ![]() |
Cranston | RI | 1677 | Residential | The house was rebuilt in 1677 on the site of the original 1670 structure, destroyed by Native Americans during King Philip's War. |
John Whipple House | ![]() |
Ipswich | MA | 1677 | Residential | In 2005 a dendrochronology test determined that the earliest surviving part of the house was actually built in 1677. A major addition of roughly equal size was built in 1690, and there are various later additions. |
Newport Tower | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1677 c. | Commercial | Colonial windmill.[36] No roof or floors since the mid-18th century. |
Thomas Fenner House | ![]() |
Cranston | RI | 1677 | Residential | early stone ender. |
Town Point | ![]() |
Dover | DE | 1677 | Residential | |
General Israel Putnam House | ![]() |
Danvers | MA | 1677 | Residential | Recorded in the National Register of Historic Places. The house is now operated by the Danvers Historical Society and open by appointment. Once thought to date from 1648, tree-ring dating has since proved otherwise. |
Joshua Hempstead House | ![]() |
New London | CT | 1678 | Residential | Built about 1678 and altered several times during the 18th century, it is one of the Connecticut's oldest surviving buildings, and provides a virtual catalog of early construction methods due to its state of preservation.[37] |
Coffin House | ![]() |
Newbury | MA | c. 1678 | Residential | Built by Tristram Coffin, Jr., in 1678, the property remained within the Coffin family until acquired by Historic New England in 1929. It is now a museum. |
Smith's Castle | ![]() |
Wickford | RI | 1678 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Rhode Island, now a museum. |
Elisha Bushnell House | ![]() |
Old Saybrook | CT | 1678 | Residential | The Colonial property includes two contributing buildings, the second being termed the "Slave House". Has not been verified with dendrochronology. |
Blackbeard's Castle | ![]() |
Charlotte Amalie | VI | 1679 | Military | Watchtower used by the Danes to protect the harbor from attacks. Has been on US soil since the 1917 purchase of the islands from Denmark. |
Clement Weaver House | ![]() |
East Greenwich | RI | 1679 | Residential | Oldest privately owned house in Rhode Island.[38] |
John Balch House | ![]() |
Beverly | MA | c. 1679 | Residential | John Balch received the deed to the land on which the house sits in 1635; the building was constructed by Balch's son and grandson in 1678/1679,[39] and is one of the oldest continuously privately deeded properties in the United States. The original structure in the front dates to 1679, while the back half addition is dated to 1721;.[39] |
Parker House | ![]() |
Old Saybrook | CT | 1679 | Residential | Has not been verified with dendrochronology. |
Paul Revere House | ![]() |
Boston | MA | c. 1680 | Residential | Oldest building in downtown Boston.[40] |
Fort Christian | ![]() |
Charlotte Amalie | VI | 1680 | Military | Fort originally built by the Danish, oldest building in the US Virgin Islands. Has been on US soil since the 1917 purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark. |
Peter Tufts House | ![]() |
Medford | MA | 1680 | Residential | Some historians consider it to be the oldest all-brick house in the United States. |
Timothy Knapp House | ![]() |
Rye | NY | 1680 | Residential | Considered the oldest residential property in Westchester County, New York. The property has been owned by only five families between 1663 and 1992. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. |
Conference House | ![]() |
Staten Island | NY | 1680 | Residential | Only pre-Revolutionary manor house still surviving in New York City. |
John Hollister House | ![]() |
South Glastonbury | CT | 1680 | Residential | Seventeenth century deeds describe this house being on "The Great River". |
Stephen Foster House | ![]() |
Topsfield | MA | 1680 | Residential | |
Capt. William Green House | ![]() |
Wakefield | MA | 1680 | Residential | |
Hart House | ![]() |
Ipswich | MA | 1680 | Residential | Now a tavern. It is located at 51 Linebrook Road and was dated using dendrochronology in 2006[41] One room is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[42] |
Van Nostrand-Starkins House | ![]() |
Roslyn | NY | 1680[43] | Residential | In the Main Street Historic District (Roslyn, New York). |
Capt. John Mawdsley House | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1680 | Residential | With a large 18th-century modification. |
John Bliss House | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1680 | Residential | Early stone ender. |
Chichester's Inn | ![]() |
Huntington | NY | 1680 | Tavern | |
Old Ship Church | ![]() |
Hingham | MA | 1681 | Religious | Oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States; only remaining 17th-century Puritan meeting house in America.[44] |
Hurd House | Woodbury | CT | 1681 | Residential | The older, north section, dates to around 1680 and was the home of John Hurd, who became the town's miller in 1681. The south section, which may have originally been the home of Hurd's son, was added to the older structure in 1718, to increase the overall size of the house. | |
Deacon John Graves House | ![]() |
Guilford | CT | 1681 | Residential | Saltbox saved from demolition and fully restored in 1983 by a private foundation, now a museum in Madison.[45] |
Cooper-Frost-Austin House | ![]() |
Cambridge | MA | 1681 | Residential | Oldest house in Cambridge, verified using dendrochronology in 2002.[41] |
Appleton-Taylor-Mansfield House | ![]() |
Saugus | MA | 1681 | Residential | Also known as the Appleton House. This was part of the Saugus Iron Works, which was a major industrial complex. It has been restored and is open to the public. |
Winona | ![]() |
Bridgetown | VA | 1681 | Residential | The only known 17th-century house in the country, other than Bacon's Castle in Surry County, to have diagonally-placed triple-chimney stacks. |
St. Luke's Church | ![]() |
Smithfield | VA | 1682 | Religious | Recent dendrochronology studies confirm the 1682 date of this National Historic Landmark.[46] |
Wall House | ![]() |
Cheltenham Township | PA | 1682 | Residential | Possibly the oldest stone house in Pennsylvania. Built for Richard Wall, the founder of Cheltenham Township. |
Nathaniel Bonnell House | ![]() |
Elizabeth | NJ | 1682 | Residential | |
Philipse Manor Hall | ![]() |
Yonkers | NY | 1682 | Residential | Oldest surviving structure in Westchester County. |
Caleb Pusey House | ![]() |
Upland | PA | 1683 | Residential | Oldest English-built house in Pennsylvania; only extant building known to have been visited by William Penn. Completed in 1696. |
Old Halsey House | ![]() |
Southampton | NY | 1683 | Residential | Built by Thomas Halsey, an English pioneer, the house is now a museum. |
William Pepperrell House | ![]() |
Kittery | ME | 1683 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Maine.[47] |
Pierce House (Dorchester, Massachusetts) | ![]() |
Dorchester | MA | 1683 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Boston. Dated using dendrochronology in 2002.[41] |
Gardner House | Brookline | MA | 1683 | Residential | Dated using dendrochronology in 2007.[41] | |
Sgt. George Flint House | North Reading | MA | prior to 1684 | Residential | The Sgt. George Flint House is owned by the North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society, which also owns the Rev. Daniel Putnam House in North Reading (built in 1720). | |
John Ward House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1684 | Residential | The John Ward House is a National Historic Landmark at 132 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts, located in the Downtown Salem District and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1968. |
Boelson Cottage | ![]() |
Philadelphia | PA | 1684 | Residential | Built sometime between 1678 and 1684; oldest extant structure in Fairmount Park and possibly the oldest extant house in Philadelphia. |
Third Haven Meeting House | ![]() |
Talbot County | MD | 1684 | Religious | Oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States. |
Forge Farm | ![]() |
Warwick | RI | 1684 | Residential | Oldest part of house dates to 1684. |
C. A. Nothnagle Log House | ![]() |
Gibbstown | NJ | 1685 | Residential | Purportedly the oldest surviving log house in the U.S. and one the oldest houses in New Jersey. |
Old Indian Meeting House | ![]() |
Mashpee | MA | 1685 | Religious | Oldest Native American church. |
Belmont Hall | ![]() |
Smyrna | DE | 1685 (earliest part) | Residential | Large Georgian addition built about 1753 by Thomas Collins, who would become the sixth governor of Delaware. |
Goodspeed House | ![]() |
Barnstable | MA | 1685 | Residential | |
Buckelew Mansion | ![]() |
Jamesburg | NJ | 1685[48][49] | c.Residential | One room in the house dates to 1685, possibly oldest in Middlesex County. House was expanded, most recently in the 19th century, and is also known as Lakeview | c.
Revell House[50][51] | ![]() |
Burlington | NJ | 1685 | Residential | Oldest house in Burlington County. |
Daggett House | ![]() |
Pawtucket | RI | 1685 | Residential | Oldest house in Pawtucket. Not tested yet using dendrochronology. |
Sign of the Bird in Hand | ![]() |
Newtown | PA | 1686 | Tavern | Originally a residence, then tavern with other uses. Oldest frame house still standing in Pennsylvania. Famous as the site of the 1778 Newtown Skirmish during which Loyalists killed 5 and captured 16 to acquire cloth being manufactured for use by General George Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Now a private residence. |
Jethro Coffin House | ![]() |
Nantucket | MA | 1686 | Residential | Oldest house on Nantucket.[52] It was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1968.[53][54] |
John Woodward House | ![]() |
Newton | MA | 1686 | Residential | Built by John Woodward in what is now the Waban neighborhood, this is one of the oldest homes in Newton. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
William Murray House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1688 | Residential | A historic house at 39 Essex Street. |
Wilbor House | ![]() |
Little Compton | RI | 1690 | Residential | Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, the house serves as the headquarters of the Little Compton Historical Society. |
Acadian House | ![]() |
Guilford | CT | c. 1690 | Residential | The house gets its name after the Acadians who resided there following the 1755 Great Expulsion.[55] |
Farmar Mill | ![]() |
Fort Washington | PA | c. 1690 | Mill | Oldest surviving mill in Pennsylvania. |
Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm | ![]() |
Newbury | MA | c. 1690 | Residential | One of the oldest stone buildings in New England, now a nonprofit museum. |
Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House | ![]() |
Georgetown | MA | c. 1694 | Residential | The Dickinson-Pillsbury-Witham House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. |
Parker Tavern | ![]() |
Reading | MA | 1694 | Tavern | Parker Tavern is now a museum owned by the Reading Antiquarian Society. |
Old Quaker Meeting House | ![]() |
Flushing, Queens | NY | 1694 | Religious | The only surviving example in New York State of a typical 17th-century ecclesiastical frame structure of medieval design.[56] |
Pink House | ![]() |
Charleston | SC | 1694–1712 | Residential | Built by John Breton in the city's French Quarter, the house is one of the oldest buildings in South Carolina and the oldest building in Charleston. |
Abraham Browne House | ![]() |
Watertown | MA | c. 1694–1701 | Residential | Built by Abraham Browne, the house is the oldest remaining in Watertown. It is owned by Historic New England and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Parson Capen House | ![]() |
Topsfield | MA | 1694 | Residential | The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[57] The Topsfield Historical Society currently operates it as a historic house museum.[58] Date confirmed with Dendrochronology. |
Wren Building | ![]() |
Williamsburg | VA | 1695 | School | Oldest school building in America, original The College of William & Mary structure.[59] |
Merion Friends Meeting House | ![]() |
Merion Station | PA | 1695 | Religious | One of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in America. |
John Sherburne House | ![]() |
Portsmouth | NH | 1695 | Residential | |
Castillo de San Marcos | ![]() |
St. Augustine | FL | 1672–1695 | Government | Oldest masonry fortification in the United States. |
Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow | ![]() |
Sleepy Hollow | NY | 1697 | Religious | Oldest church in the State of New York. |
Holy Trinity Church | ![]() |
Wilmington | DE | 1698–99 | Religious | Oldest Swedish church in the United States. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.[60] |
Great Friends Meeting House | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1699 | Religious | Expanded in 1730, 1807, 1857, and 1867 to accommodate the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. |
James Noyes House | ![]() |
Newbury | MA | 1699 | Residential | Reverend James Noyes left Wiltshire, England, with his brother, Nicholas Noyes and cousin, Thomas Parker, bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid 1630s and built this house, which still stands, in 1646. |
Hoyt-Barnum House | ![]() |
Stamford | CT | c. 1699 | Residential | The builder was a descendant of one of the original founders of Stamford. The structure is owned and maintained as a museum by the Stamford Historical Society. |
Middleburg Plantation | ![]() |
Huger | SC | c. 1699 | Residential | Possibly the oldest building in South Carolina. It was a plantation built by a French Huguenot Benjamin Simons in 1699 on the Cooper River near Huger, South Carolina. |
Old House | ![]() |
Cutchogue | NY | 1699 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in the state; previously thought to have been built in 1649. 2003 dendrochronology surveys yielded a date of 1699. |
Strawbery Banke | ![]() |
Portsmouth | NH | numerous structures – 17th–19th centuries | Residential and Industrial | Strawbery Banke is a collection of 37 historic buildings dating back to the 17th century. |
18th century
Building | Image | Location | State | First Built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jonathan Young Windmill | ![]() |
Orleans | MA | Early 2021 | Industrial | The Jonathan Young Windmill is a restored, working early eighteenth-century windmill with its original machinery intact, located next to Town Cove in Orleans. |
Benoni Fox House | ![]() |
Concord | MA | 1700 | Residential | This is one of the oldest buildings of the Fox family in the United States. |
Stanton-Davis Homestead Museum | ![]() |
Stonington | CT | 1700 | Farmhouse | The farm has been worked every year since 1654. Has not been verified with dendrochronology. |
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church | ![]() |
Philadelphia | PA | 1700 | Religious | Oldest surviving church in Philadelphia. |
Edward Morgan Log House | ![]() |
Towamencin | PA | 1700 | Residential | Home to the maternal grandfather of Daniel Boone and Daniel Morgan |
Harlow Old Fort House | ![]() |
Plymouth | MA | 1700 | Residential | Has not been verified with dendrochronology. |
Old Powder House | ![]() |
Somerville | MA | 1703 | Windmill | Converted to the use of gun powder storage in 1747 which was used during the American Revolutionary War. |
Brinton 1704 House | ![]() |
West Chester | PA | 1704 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Pennsylvania. Built by a Quaker family. A National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina) | ![]() |
Charleston | SC | 1706 | Religious | Oldest church building in South Carolina. |
Wayside Inn Historic District | ![]() |
Sudbury | MA | 1707 | Residential/Tavern | Located on the Old Boston Post Road and made famous in a collection of poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. |
The Hosmer Homestead | ![]() |
Concord | MA | c. 1707–1710 | Residential | The Hosmer Homestead, also known as the Hosmer/Baker Farm, is an historic house at 138 Baker Avenue in Concord, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of this 2-1/2 story wood frame house was probably built c. 1707 – 1710 by Stephen Hosmer, based on architectural evidence. The property has a long association with the Hosmer family, who were early settlers of Concord and who have played a significant role in the growth and civic life of the town. The house interior has well-preserved Georgian woodwork and plaster. |
McIntire Garrison House | ![]() |
York | ME | 1707 or later | Residential/Military | Possibly the oldest building in Maine. |
Buckman Tavern | ![]() |
Lexington | MA | 1709–1710 | Tavern | It played a prominent role in the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. It was declared a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Capt. Jonathan Parker House | Reading | MA | ca 1710 | Residential | Still a private residence at Charles and Pearl Sts. | |
Buttolph-Williams House | ![]() |
Wethersfield | CT | 1711 | Residential | One of the oldest surviving homes in Wethersfield, declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968.[61] |
Randall-Hale Homestead | ![]() |
Stow | MA | 1710 | Residential | The Randall-Hale Homestead is a historic First Period house at 6 Sudbury Road in Stow, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of this 2-1/2 story timber frame house was built c. 1710.[62] One of the oldest surviving homes in Stow, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.[63] |
San Miguel Mission | ![]() |
Santa Fe | NM | 1710 | Government/religious | Said to be the oldest church structure built in the United States. The original adobe walls and altar were built by the Tlaxcalan of Mexico, but much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710. Building has been within the United States since the Mexican Cession of 1848.[64] |
Stephen Northup House | ![]() |
North Kingstown | RI | 1712 | Residential | possibly burned during King Philip's War in the 1670s and rebuilt, later modifications 1712, 1850, 2004 |
The Powder Magazine | ![]() |
Charleston | SC | 1713 | Government | Oldest public building in South Carolina. The Powder Magazine Museum. |
Old State House | ![]() |
Boston | MA | 1713 | Government | Oldest surviving public building in Boston. The Bostonian Society Museum. |
Hyland-Wildman House | ![]() |
Guilford | CT | ca. 1713 | Residential | Open to the public since 1918.[65] Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. |
Perth Amboy City Hall | ![]() |
Perth Amboy | NJ | 1714–1717 | Government | Oldest city hall in US. |
Samuel Chase House | ![]() |
West Newbury | MA | 1715 | Residential | A rare brick house of the period. A story passed down in the Chase family says that bricks for the house were made on the family's farm and carried to the job site by Hannah Chase in her apron. |
Colonial Inn | ![]() |
Concord | MA | 1716 | Commercial | Still an operating inn and restaurant. |
Benjamin Flagg House | ![]() |
Worcester | MA | c. 1717 | Residential | Built by Capt. Benjamin Flagg, it is the oldest remaining home in Worcester. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Lane House | ![]() |
Edenton | NC | 1718–19 | Residential | Oldest house in North Carolina identified by dendrochronology. |
Massachusetts Hall | ![]() |
Cambridge | MA | 1718–1720 | School | Oldest extant building at Harvard University. |
Thomas Hastings House | ![]() |
Newton | MA | ca. 1719 | Residential | |
King of Prussia Inn | ![]() |
King of Prussia | PA | 1719 | Tavern | Granted its name to the town that grew up around it. |
Rev. Daniel Putnam House | ![]() |
North Reading | MA | 1720 | Residential | Headquarters of the North Reading Historical and Antiquarian Society. The society also owns the Sgt. George Flint House in North Reading, which was built prior to 1684. |
Garretson Forge and Farm | ![]() |
Fair Lawn | NJ | 1720 | Residential | One of the oldest homes in Bergen County, New Jersey. |
Bray House | ![]() |
Kittery Point | ME | c. 1720 | Residential | Built on the site of an earlier structure built in c. 1662, it is among the oldest houses in Maine.[47] |
Jonathan Green House | ![]() |
Stoneham | MA | c. 1720 | Residential | It is one of the oldest structures in Stoneham. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Wayside Cottage | ![]() |
Scarsdale | NY | c. 1720 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Westchester County, New York. Owned and operated by the Junior League of Central Westchester. |
Thomas Wheeler House | ![]() |
Bridgeport | CT | 1720 | Residential | Other sources suggest the core was constructed in 1644, and expanded 1680, oldest house in Bridgeport Black Rock Harbor, residence. |
William Penn Guest House | New Castle | DE | c. 1720 | Residential | Oldest buildings in New Castle. Purportedly where William Penn lodged after first arrival in America. | |
Strode's Mill | ![]() |
West Chester | PA | c. 1721 | Industrial/Residential | A fieldstone gristmill that is currently a residence. |
John Adams Birthplace | ![]() |
Quincy | MA | 1722[66] | Farmhouse | Oldest existing building within which a future President of the United States was born (John Adams, October 30, 1735) |
Bull Stone House | ![]() |
Hamptonburgh | NY | c. 1722 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Orange County, New York. Built by early settlers William Bull and Sarah Wells; continuously owned by Bull family descendants. |
González–Alvarez House | ![]() |
St. Augustine | FL | c. 1723 | Residential | Probably constructed between 1723 and 1790.[68] Oldest house in St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied city in the continental United States.[69] |
Block House | ![]() |
Claymont | DE | 1723 | Residential | One of the oldest structures in Delaware. |
Bellingham-Cary House | ![]() |
Chelsea | MA | 1724 | Residential | The Bellingham-Cary House is an historic house museum at 34 Parker Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The building, now a Federal style mansion, incorporates in its structure the 1659 hunting lodge of colonial governor Richard Bellingham, and is the only surviving 18th-century building in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. |
Alamo Mission Long Barracks | ![]() |
San Antonio | TX | c. 1724 | Religious | The Alamo Chapel and Priests quarters and convent (Long Barracks) in San Antonio. In the center of the surrounding area are the remains of the "Long Barracks" which were constructed 20 years before the Chapel. Founded in 1718 and moved to present site 1724. |
Reuben Brown House | ![]() |
Concord | MA | 1725 | Residential | Built in 1725 by the town saddler, Reuben 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 evidence is still unclear whether or not the Bulkeleys did build the house some 300 years ago. What historians can conclude, however, is that the house was either completely updated or built by Reuben Brown in 1725, since most of the house's present features are typical of houses from 1700 to 1730. |
Fort Niagara | ![]() |
Youngstown | NY | 1726 | Fortification | Built in 1726 by the French as a "house of peace". Taken by the British in 1759, the fledgling United States regained control by treaty in 1796. It was lost to the British in 1813, but was relinquished as a result of the Treaty of Ghent, and has remained in the hands of the United States ever since. |
James Smith House | ![]() |
Needham | MA | 1727–1728 | Residential | The house was built by James Smith, a recent Irish immigrant. HIs son, Captain Robert Smith, who commanded one of the militia companies from Needham engaged in the fighting the day of the Battle of Concord Bridge, may have been born and lived here. |
48 Hudson Avenue | ![]() |
Albany | NY | 1728 | Residential | Oldest stand-alone structure in Albany. |
Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead | ![]() |
East Elmhurst | NY | 1729 | Residential | Oldest occupied residential structure in Queens, New York. Has not been verified with dendrochronology. |
Findowrie | ![]() |
Albemarle County | VA | 1730 | Residential | Claimed as the oldest unaltered residence in Virginia. |
Hampton Plantation | ![]() |
McClellanville | SC | 1730 | Residential | Historic Southern plantation house. Now state historic park. |
Newbold-White House | ![]() |
Hertford | NC | 1730 | Residential | Oldest brick house in North Carolina.[70] |
Williams House, Historic Deerfield | ![]() |
Deerfield | MA | c. 1730 | Residential | One of the oldest houses in Old Deerfield, although extensively remodeled in the 19th century. The original area of Deerfield has been preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Ephrata Cloister | ![]() |
Lancaster County | PA | 1732 | Religious | Last surviving resident of the Ephrata Cloister religious community died on July 27, 2008, at the age of 98. |
Nehemiah Royce House | ![]() |
Wallingford | CT | 1734 | Residential | A typical saltbox, this house was visited by George Washington in 1775. |
Quackenbush House | ![]() |
Albany | NY | 1736 | Residential | Until recently considered the oldest house and structure in the city of Albany and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently the location of the Olde English Pub & Pantry. |
339 Beechwood St. | Cohasset | MA | 1739 | Residential | Still a private residence. The story passed down is that the large buttonwood tree in front of the house was planted on the day one of the sons in the family marched off to go fight in the Revolutionary War. | |
Old Cahokia Courthouse | ![]() |
Cahokia | IL | 1740 | Government | One of the oldest French Colonial Poteaux-sur-solle style buildings in Illinois. |
Oxford Furnace | ![]() |
Oxford Township | NJ | 1741 | Furnace | First hot blast furnace in the United States. |
St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Va. | ![]() |
Richmond, Virginia | VA | 1741 | Religious | Site of Patrick Henry's “give me liberty or give me death” speech with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among other notables in attendance. |
Fort Matanzas | ![]() |
St. Johns County | FL | 1740–42 | Presidio | Designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924.[71] |
Amos Chase House | ![]() |
Saco | ME | ca 1743 | Residential | Oldest building in Saco. It was actually two houses, one of which was brought over on logs used as rollers, and joined to the other by the industrious Amos Chase to accommodate his large family. |
Old Ursuline Convent | ![]() |
New Orleans | LA | 1748 (or 1752) | Religious | Considered the oldest building in Louisiana, and perhaps the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley[72] |
Presidio La Bahía | ![]() |
Goliad | TX | 1749 | Presidio | The best preserved Spanish presidio in the United States. |
Deacon Thomas Kendall House | ![]() |
Wakefield | MA | prior top 1750 | Residential | Deacon Thomas Kendall was among the earliest settlers of the area, and an influential member of the community, serving as a selectman, commissioner, and deacon of the church for 36 years. He and his wife, Rebecca, had 10 children, and when she died, at the age of 85, she had 175 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. |
Danish West India and Guinea Company Warehouse | ![]() |
Christiansted | VI | 1750 | Commercial | Built as a trading center for the Danish on the island of St. Croix. Has been on US soil since the 1917 purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark. |
Parlange Plantation House | Mix | LA | 1750 | Plantation | One of the oldest plantation homes in the South and perhaps the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley | |
Mount Holly Firehouse | ![]() |
Mount Holly | NJ | 1752 | Firehouse | Oldest firehouse in the United States, established by what is now the country's oldest continuously operating volunteer fire department.[73][74] |
Fort de Chartres Powder Magazine | ![]() |
Prairie du Rocher | IL | 1753–1756 | Government | Oldest building in Illinois. |
Pirates' House | ![]() |
Savannah | GA | c. 1754 | Mix | Possibly the oldest building in Georgia, and the oldest building in the city of Savannah. |
Josiah Day House | ![]() |
West Springfield | MA | c. 1754 | Residential | It is believed to be the oldest known brick saltbox style house in the U.S. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Fort William Henry | ![]() |
Lake George | NY | 1755 | Military | Built during the French and Indian War, it was featured in James Fenimore Cooper's novel, The Last of the Mohicans. |
LaPointe-Krebs House | ![]() |
Pascagoula | MS | 1757 | Mix | The oldest building in Mississippi, this french colonial structure is one the oldest buildings on the Gulf Coast of the United States. |
General Rufus Putnam House | ![]() |
Rutland | MA | 1760–1765 | Residential | Rufus Putnam was a Revolutionary War general and later instrumental in the founding of Ohio. His home is now a B&B. |
Derby House | ![]() |
Saleml l | MA | 1762 | Residential | Capt. Richard Derby was the first millionaire in America. The home is now part of Salem Maritime National Historic Site. The site has 12 historic structures, including the Customs House, and a replica of the sailing ship Friendship of Salem. |
Proprietary House | ![]() |
Perth Amboy | NJ | 1762 | Government | Oldest remaining colonial proprietary governor's residence in the original Thirteen States. |
Touro Synagogue | ![]() |
Newport | RI | 1763 | Religious | Oldest synagogue building in the United States.[75] |
Fort Pitt Blockhouse | ![]() |
Pittsburgh | PA | 1764 | Defense | Oldest structure in Pittsburgh. One of the oldest colonial structures west of the Allegheny Mountains. |
Sandy Hook Light | ![]() |
Sandy Hook | NJ | 1764 | Lighthouse | Oldest original lighthouse in the United States. |
Old Stone House (Washington, D.C.) | ![]() |
Washington, D.C. | DC | 1765 | Residential | Oldest unchanged building in Washington, D.C. |
St. John's Episcopal Church | ![]() |
Fort Washington | MD | 1767 | Religious | Located in the Broad Creek Historic District. The building is the 4th iteration of the church since the original was erected in 1695.[76] |
Harmony Hall | ![]() |
Fort Washington | MD | 1769 | Residential | Located in the Broad Creek Historic District. It was originally known as Battersea, and overlooked the colonial port of Aire.[77] |
William Henry House | ![]() |
Bennington | VT | 1769 | Residential | |
University Hall (Brown University) | ![]() |
Providence | RI | 1770 | School | Oldest extant building at Brown University |
Maryland State House | ![]() |
Annapolis | MD | 1772 | Government | Oldest state house in continuous use in the United States. |
Josiah Bartlett House | ![]() |
Kingston | NH | 1774 | Residential | Josiah Bartlett was a medical doctor, Governor of New Hampshire, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. |
Humphrey Bradstreet Farm | Rowley | MA | ca 1774 | Residential | The Humphrey Bradstreet Farm is the second-oldest continuously operating farm in the United States. Humphrey Bradstreet was granted the property in 1635 by King Charles I, and it stayed in the Bradstreet family for the next 372 years, until purchased by the town of Rowley. | |
Mission San Juan Capistrano | ![]() |
San Juan Capistrano | CA | 1776 | Mission | Oldest surviving building in California. Restored. |
Tank Cottage | ![]() |
Allouez | WI | 1776 | Residential | Oldest extant building in Wisconsin. Voyageur Joseph Roi built the cottage using the pièce-sur-pièce à coulisse technique, which was once common in French-Canadian architecture. |
Fuller-Bemis House | ![]() |
Waltham | MA | c. 1776 | Residential | One of the oldest surviving homes in Waltham. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Christopher Taylor House | ![]() |
Jonesborough | TN | 1778 | Residential | Possibly the oldest building in Tennessee, along with The Carter Mansion.[78] |
Fort Putnam | ![]() |
West Point | NY | 1778 | Military | Ft. Putnam was built by the regiment of Rufus Putnam during the Revolutionary War to guard the Hudson River. It is now part of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. |
Officer's Stone Quarters | ![]() |
Fort Mackinac | MI | 1780 | Military | Oldest building in Michigan.[79] |
Hessian Barracks | ![]() |
Frederick | MD | c. 1780 | Military | Possibly dating back to the French and Indian Wars (1754–1763), used as barracks for Hessian mercenaries during the American Revolutionary War. On the grounds of the Maryland School for the Deaf.[80] |
McGulpin House | ![]() |
Mackinac Island | MI | c. 1780 | Residential | Oldest residential home in Michigan. Built in French Canadian style. |
Biddle House (Mackinac Island) | ![]() |
Mackinac Island | MI | c. 1780 | Commercial | House built for the fur trade in New France. |
Morven Park | ![]() |
Leesburg | VA | c. 1780 | Residential | Home of Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis. The earliest parts of the structure were built circa 1780 and the building was significantly expanded in the decades that followed. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Peirce–Nichols House | ![]() |
Salem | MA | 1782 | Residential | Owned by the Peabody Essex Museum |
Dyckman House | ![]() |
Inwood, Manhattan | NY | 1784 | Residential | Only remaining original farmhouse in Manhattan |
Rehoboth Church | ![]() |
Union | WV | 1785 | Religious | Oldest extant church in West Virginia |
Church of the Holy Family (Cahokia, Illinois) | ![]() |
Cahokia | IL | 1786 | Religious | One of the few surviving French colonial buildings in Illinois. Oldest continuuously active Catholic parish in the United States, and oldest church west of the Allegheny Mountains. |
Rufus Putnam House and Campus Martius (Ohio) | ![]() |
Marietta | OH | 1788 | Residential/military | Gen. Rufus Putnam's house was built as part of the Campus Martius fort. It is now part of the Campus Martius Museum. |
Navarre–Anderson Trading Post | ![]() |
Frenchtown | MI | 1789 | Commercial/Residential | Historic French homestead/trading post near present-day Monroe, Michigan. |
Historic Locust Grove | ![]() |
Louisville | KY | 1790 | Residential | Possibly the oldest building in Kentucky (not counting the Old Talbott Tavern among others.) In close competition with Old Providence Church, Hawkins House, Jacob Eversole Cabin, John Andrew Miller House, Millspring, and the Zachary Taylor House |
Carpenter House | ![]() |
Rehoboth | MA | c. 1789 | Residential | Built by Thomas Carpenter III circa 1789 using older materials from a building that was already on the site. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Martin–Boismenue House | ![]() |
East Carondelet | IL | 1790 | Residential | One of the oldest surviving French Colonial structures in Illinois. |
Ohio Company Land Office | ![]() |
Marietta | OH | 1791 | Commercial | The oldest building in Ohio. |
Stone-Tolan House | ![]() |
Brighton | NY | c. 1792 | Residential | A Federal-style structure said to be the oldest surviving building in Monroe County. |
Louis Bolduc House | ![]() |
Ste. Geneviève | MO | 2jdjdj | Residential | The oldest building in Missouri. |
White House | ![]() |
Washington, D.C. | DC | 1792–1800 | Government | The official residence of the President of the United States, and seat of the executive branch of the U.S federal government |
United States Capitol | ![]() |
Washington, D.C. | DC | 1793–1800 | Government | Location of U.S. Congress, and seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. |
Mission San Xavier del Bac | ![]() |
Tohono O’odham San Xavier Indian Reservation | AZ | 1797 | Mission | Oldest European structure in Arizona.[81] |
Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine | ![]() |
St. Augustine, Florida | FL | 1798 | Religious | The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is the first parish in North America and is located in St. Augustine Florida. It is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of St. Augustine. The existing structure was constructed over five years (1793–1797) and was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on April 15, 2021. |
Molalla Log House | Molalla | OR | 1799–1813 | Residential/military | This is the oldest building in Oregon and is believed to have been constructed by fur traders of French Canadian and/or Native American ancestry.[82] The next closest contenders are the Methodist Mission Parsonage c.1841, the Jason Lee House c.1841, the Delaney-Edwards House c.1845, the John McLoughlin House c.1846, and the John D. Boon House c. 1846 | |
Mission San Diego de Alcalá | ![]() |
San Diego | CA | ldlddldldkckckfkck | Mission/Military | The first Franciscan mission in The Californias. Ruined in the mid-1800s and restored by 1941. |
19th century
Building | Image | Location | State | First Built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad | ![]() |
Umatac | GU | 1802–1819 | Military | Built by the Spanish Empire, and was used to protect the trade route of the Manila Galleons between Acapulco, New Spain, and Manila, Spanish East Indies. Fort has been on US soil since the Spanish-American War, when Guam was annexed along with Puerto Rico. |
Grouseland | ![]() |
Vincennes | IN | 1804 | Residential | Possibly the oldest building in Indiana. It is in close competition with the Indiana Territorial Capitol. |
Joel Eddins House | ![]() |
Huntsville | AL | 1808 | Residential | The oldest documented building in Alabama.[83] |
Woolwich Historical Society | Woolwich | ME | 1810 | Residential | The society's headquarters is an 1810 farmhouse. It is possible that elements of the building date back further, since the property was occupied by the James Savage family half a century before that. | |
Nicholas Jarrot Mansion | ![]() |
Cahokia | IL | 1810 | Residential | Mansion built by French colonialists in the Illinois Country. Extremely rare example of Federal architecture in the upper Mississippi River valley. |
Baranov Museum | ![]() |
Kodiak | AK | c. 1810 | Commercial | The oldest building in Alaska. It was built as a storage facility by the Russian American Company. |
Francois Vertefeuille House | ![]() |
Prairie du Chien | WI | c. 1810 | Residential | Oldest building in Wisconsin still located at its original site. Built by French-Canadian fur traders using the pièce-sur-pièce à coulisse technique between 1810 and 1820. |
Fort Howard | ![]() |
Allouez | WI | 1816 | Military | Oldest extant U.S. Armed Forces fort in Wisconsin, built in 1816 in the aftermath of the War of 1812. |
St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square | ![]() |
Washington, D.C. | DC | 1816 | Religious | Episcopal church being known for being the main house of worship for several U.S. presidents. |
Russian Fort Elizabeth | ![]() |
Waimea | HI | 1817 | Military | Fort built by the Russian-American Company to protect Russian interests in the Pacific. |
Ka Hale Lāʻau | ![]() |
Honolulu | HI | 1820 | Residential | The oldest standing structure in Hawaii. It was shipped ready-made for assembly from Boston and used as a communal home by Christian missionaries. |
Oak Hill | ![]() |
Aldie | VA | 1820–1822 | Residential | The mansion and plantation of President James Monroe where he lived, on and off, for 22 years. It is privately owned and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Fort Snelling Round Tower | ![]() |
Hennepin County | MN | 1820–1824 | Military | The oldest building in Minnesota. |
Rockland | ![]() |
Leesburg | VA | c. 1822 | Residential | Home of the locally prominent Rust family. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Marblehead Light | ![]() |
Marblehead | OH | 1822 | Government | Oldest lighthouse on the American coasts of the Great Lakes. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Woodruff Print Shop | Little Rock | AR | 1824 | Commercial | The oldest building in the state of Arkansas.[84] | |
Charles Trowbridge House | ![]() |
Detroit | MI | 1826 | Residential | Oldest documented building in the city of Detroit. |
The Basilica of Saint Mary | ![]() |
Alexandria_Virginia | VA | 1826 | Religious | The oldest Catholic parish in the Commonwealth of Virginia.[85] |
Old Customhouse (Monterey, California) | ![]() |
Monterey | CA | 1827 | Government | The oldest government building in present-day California, and one of the oldest in the western United States. Built by Mexico then won and operated by United States until it was transferred to the State of California in 1901. |
Fort Leavenworth 'The Rookery' | Leavenworth | KS | 1829 | Military | The oldest building in Kansas.[86] | |
Fort Gratiot Light | ![]() |
Port Huron | MI | 1829 | Lighthouse | First lighthouse in Michigan. |
Louis Arriandeaux Log House | Dubuque | IA | 1833 | Residential | The oldest building in Iowa.[87] | |
St. Thomas Synagogue | ![]() |
Charlotte Amalie | VI | 1833 | Religious | Second oldest synagogue in on US soil, and has the longest continuous use as a Jewish congregation in the nation. Has been on US soil since the 1917 purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark. |
Rancho Petaluma Adobe | ![]() |
Petaluma | CA | 1835–1857 | Residential/Military | This large adobe ranch house was built by Colonel Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Commandante General of the "Free State of Alta California" (Northern California). Now known as the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park, it is owned by the State of California and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
Log Cabin | ![]() |
Bellevue | NE | c. 1835 | Residential | The oldest building in Nebraska. It originally served as a fur trapper's home. |
Larkin House | ![]() |
Monterey | CA | 1835 | Residential | Oldest two-story house in California. The nearby Cooper-Molera Adobe was also built circa the same period. |
Rotchev House | ![]() |
Fort Ross | CA | 1836 | Residential | Oldest Russian building in California. |
Hulihee Palace | ![]() |
Kailua, Kona | HI | 1838 | Residential | Originally built by John Adams Kuakini, it was later acquired by Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani and used as a vacation home for Hawaiian royalty. |
Old Courthouse (St. Louis) | ![]() |
Saint Louis | MO | 1839–1864 | Government | Oldest federal building built for the United States west of the Mississippi River. |
Fort Gibson Barracks | ![]() |
Fort Gibson | OK | c. 1840 | Military | The oldest building in Oklahoma (formerly the Indian Territory).[88] In close competition with the Cherokee National Supreme Court building.[89] |
Kawaiahaʻo Church | ![]() |
Honolulu | HI | 1842 | Religious | Oldest surviving church on Oahu. Formerly the national church of the Hawaiian Kingdom and chapel of the royal family. Designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1962. |
Punahou School | ![]() |
Honolulu | HI | 1842 | Educational | Punahou was founded in 1941 for the children of Christian missionaries and is the first formal English language school west of the Rocky Mountains. |
Kittson Trading Post | ![]() |
Walhalla | ND | 1843 | Commercial | The oldest building in North Dakota. It was constructed by an agent of the American Fur Company. |
Fort Nisqually Granary | ![]() |
Tacoma | WA | 1843 | Military | Oldest building in Washington State. In competition with the circa 1837-1844 Prince's Cabin at the Frenchtown Historic Site in Walla Walla, Washington. |
Benjamin Church House | ![]() |
Shorewood | WI | 1843-1844 | Residential | The oldest extant house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. |
Old Fort Benton Blockhouse | Fort Benton | MT | 1844 | Military | The oldest building in Montana. It was the last fur trading post on the Upper Missouri River and the terminus of the Mullan Road, the overland route that linked the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.[90] | |
Castillo San Felipe del Morro Lighthouse | ![]() |
San Juan | PR | 1846-1908 | Lighthouse | First lighthouse built in Puerto Rico. Rebuilt and remodeled over several decades until the U.S. government rebuilt it after annexing Puerto Rico. |
Robert Gardner Jr. House | Millcreek | UT | 1848 | House | It is likely the oldest standing European American structure in the state of Utah, dating to the year of the Mexican cession of the Alta California region to the United States following the Mexican-American War | |
Washington Monument | ![]() |
Washington, D.C. | DC | 1848–1888 | Monument | Built to commemorate the first President of the United States, George Washington. |
Fort Laramie 'Old Bedlam' Building | ![]() |
Torrington | WY | 1849 | Military | Oldest documented building still standing in Wyoming. It served as a major fur trading post and diplomatic site during the 19th century. |
Cataldo Mission | ![]() |
Cataldo | ID | 1853 | Mission | Oldest standing building in Idaho. |
Fagalele Boys School | ![]() |
Leone, American Samoa | AS | 1850-1856 | Education | Church school built by the London Missionary Society. First school to be built in what is now American Samoa, and possibly the oldest surviving building in the territory. |
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort | ![]() |
Las Vegas, Nevada | NV | 1855 | Military | The oldest American structure in Nevada.[91] |
Fort Garland Officer's Quarters and Barracks | ![]() |
Fort Garland | CO | 1858 | Military | The oldest American buildings still standing in Colorado. In close competition with Four Mile House c. 1859.[91] |
Fort Sisseton | Britton | SD | 1864 | Military | The oldest structures still standing in South Dakota.[92] | |
Pioneer Courthouse | ![]() |
Portland | OR | 1869–1903 | Government | Oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest. |
Auditorium Building | ![]() |
Chicago | IL | 1889 | Theatre | One of the first Chicago skyscrapers built. Currently owned by Roosevelt University. |
Manhattan Building (Chicago, Illinois) | ![]() |
Chicago | IL | 1889–1891 | Commercial | Oldest surviving skyscraper in the world. Currently residential condominiums. |
See also
- List of the oldest buildings in Alabama
- List of the oldest buildings in California
- List of the oldest buildings in Connecticut
- List of the oldest buildings in Delaware
- List of the oldest buildings in Florida
- List of the oldest buildings in Georgia
- List of the oldest buildings in Maine
- List of the oldest buildings in Idaho
- List of the oldest buildings in Maryland
- List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
- List of the oldest buildings in Michigan
- List of the oldest buildings in Mississippi
- List of the oldest buildings in New Hampshire
- List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
- List of the oldest buildings in New York
- List of the oldest buildings in North Carolina
- List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania
- List of the oldest buildings in Rhode Island
- List of the oldest buildings in South Carolina
- List of the oldest buildings in Texas
- List of the oldest buildings in Vermont
- List of the oldest buildings in Virginia
- List of the oldest buildings in Wisconsin
- 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
- List of oldest buildings in the Americas
References
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External links
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