[photolitherland]

I am interested in seeing the oldest surviving building in your guys cities, house or general store or whatever is the oldest.

Heres the oldest building where I live in Russellville, AR

Its the Shinn Buildling built in 1875. The area has been inhabited though since the 1820s. But it got a kick start in the 1870s when the Ft. Smith Little Rock railroad came through.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3431/3349739743_8a2fe37fb8_o.jpg

[Buckeye Native 001]

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg
Source (http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg)

Built sometime in the mid-1200s by the Hohokam, believed to be abandoned by the 1400s.

Arguably one of the oldest, still-standing structures in Metro Phoenix, Monti's La Casa Vieja (http://www.montis.com/history.php):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JYzEoviB7wM/SBeaCrKxDcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/x3tOTqMDa38/s400/DSC00985.JPG
Source (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JYzEoviB7wM/SBeaCrKxDcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/x3tOTqMDa38/s400/DSC00985.JPG)

The original adobe house (which has seen numerous additions as the restaurant grew) was built in 1871 by Charles T. Hayden, father of former U.S. Senator Carl Hayden.

[photolitherland]

I love Casa Grande, its a beautiful structure and I love the pavilion they built above it to preserve it.

[photolitherland]

Heres the oldest building from Houston where I pretty much grew up. Its the Kennedy Bakery built in 1860. Its the oldest building surviving in Houston at least to my knowledge. In Galveston although there are buildings still there that are at least a good 20 years older than this Bakery. By the way, all of these photos I post are mine just in case someone says I didnt put a link.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3374/3193467076_b943a6a01e_o.jpg

[Steely Dan]

for chicago it's the Henry B. Clark House. it was originally built circa 1836 near michigan ave. and 16th. in 1872 it was moved to the 4500 block of south wabash. roughly 100 years later in 1977, the house was moved again to 1827 south prairie close to where the house originally stood. as a great example of greek revival style, the building is listed as a national historic landmark.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Clarke_House_new.jpg
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clarke_House_new.jpg

[BTinSF]

San Francisco:

Mission San Francisco de Asis (the smaller whiter building on the left)--Founded June 29, 1776.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/San_Francisco_de_Asis--Mission_Dolores.JPG/800px-San_Francisco_de_Asis--Mission_Dolores.JPG

Interior view
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/05/Mission_Delores.jpg/450px-Mission_Delores.jpg
Source (both images): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Francisco_de_Asís

[photolitherland]

^^^
hmm, I always thought the water tower was the oldest building in Chicago because I thought everything else burnt down in the fire. Glad to see some buildings survived other than the tower.

[Evergrey]

Pittsburgh:

Fort Pitt Blockhouse (1764)

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/59118713.jpg
source: me

[Steely Dan]

^^^
hmm, I always thought the water tower was the oldest building in Chicago because I thought everything else burnt down in the fire.

that's just urban myth. the water tower was one of the few structures in the burn zone that survived, but a good deal of the city, mostly on the south and west sides, was spared from the flames of the great conflagration.

here's a map of the burn zone, as you can see the central area was almost entirely decimated but large areas on the south and west sides were fine.

north is to the right
http://www.chicagohistory.org/fire/ruin/img/0563.jpg
source: http://www.chicagohistory.org/fire/ruin/pic0563.html

[DruidCity]

The McGuire-Strickland House (1820) is probably the oldest surviving building in Tuscaloosa, but was moved from its original location. It is currently part of a private school campus:
http://www.thecapitolschool.com/capitolpark.html

[Matthew]

In Winston-Salem, the Jacob Bonn House is the oldest. It was completed in February 1766.

I took these photos Thanksgiving Morning 2006.

Lower Downtown Winston-Salem is a National Landmark District, with homes, churches, stores and buildings dating back to the mid-1700's. The nation's oldest women's college is also in the neighborhood. The structures have a small marker on the front, with the date and name of the structure. This is a tourist attraction for the city and the best known of three or four mid-1700's neighborhoods like this in the city.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4959/jacobbonnhouse.jpg
Jacob Bonn House, built in 1766 (This house is a private residence, not a museum)

Yes, people live in these old houses!

South Main Street, looking North.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3900/southmainst.jpg

The drive into downtown is interesting and beautiful; with historic homes, gardens, parks, a bike & pedestrian connector system and more. In the image above, you can see a few skyscrapers between the trees. The tallest skyscraper in Winston-Salem is located at 100 N. Main Street, across the street from a building built in 1858. If you love old buildings and skyscrapers, you have to take a few photos in the neighborhoods south of downtown, with the skyscrapers towering in the back ground. They are interesting contrast photos. There are also hotels dating back to the 1810's in lower downtown.

[vid]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3359688767_6f12258538.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidioman/3359688767/)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3360507646_e59d976b53.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidioman/3360507646/)

McIntyre House. Built in 1877 for John McIntyre, the last chief factor of Fort William (the fort, not the city) and originally built on the Kaministiquia River beside the original fort (which is gone). During the rail way boom in the early 1900s, the building was sold to CP Rail and moved to it's present location south of downtown. (About two miles away.)

The exterior walls are lap-siding boards, on 2x8 studs, insulated with sand. A balcony extends across the symmetrical façade of the building, and shelters the porch, and central entry which is flanked by leaded-glass panels. Elaborate drop-finials support the balcony, as well as the eaves of the main roof, east and west bay windows and the upper window pediments.

[theWatusi]

for Philly, the oldest surviving building is Old Swede's Church built in 1700.

http://www.colonialswedes.org/Images/Churches/GloDeNP2.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Oldest in Dayton is Newcom Tavern, from 1796, but not at the original site, so a bit leery on posting this:

On the original site, late 1800s

http://home.dayton.lib.oh.us/archives/lutzcollect/0011-ex.jpg

Relocation and "Resotration" #1 was to a nearby park facing the river (the original site was also along the river, the Great Miami, which had seasonal flatboat and keelboat traffic).

Relocation and Restortion # 2, to Carillon Park, one of those historic parks that collects buildings and relics of various sorts.

http://omp.ohiolink.edu/Images/Bdg/Hist1MDS/d46/994965095442.Om2_001.jpg

The building is undergoing restoration #3 to be more authentic than the previous 2.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

That Winston-Salem pix upthread reminds me of certain areas of Lexington, KY, which have a similar "old houses w. skyscrapers in background" look.

[photolitherland]

Wow, its amazing that those old houses still exist in that great a number in Winston. Great to see they actually care about historic preservation there.

[CGII]

The oldest building in New York City is the Wycoff House, in Brooklyn, built 1652. Incredibly, it's still in its original location.

http://www.wyckoffassociation.org/images/south_facade_May_06_farther_away_small.jpg
wyckoffassociation.org

In Queens, it is the John Bowne House, c. 1661
http://www.gothamgazette.com/unpreserved/landmark/bowne-house.jpg
gothamgazette.com


In Staten Island it is the Conference House, c 1675
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Conference-house-staten-island.jpg
wikipedia.org

In the Bronx it is the Van Cortlandt House, built 1748:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Van-cortland-house-bronx.JPG/800px-Van-cortland-house-bronx.JPG
wikipedia.org

And in Manhattan it is St. Paul's church, in Lower Manhattan, built 1766
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/St_Paul%27s_Chapel_sunny_jeh.JPG/475px-St_Paul%27s_Chapel_sunny_jeh.JPG
wikipedia.org

[krudmonk]

Peralta Adobe (1797)
http://www.ca-missions.org/PeraltaAdobeTight.jpg

[MNMike]

duplicate post...sorry

[MNMike]

Not sure if this is officially the oldest building in Minneapolis, but Our Lady of Lourdes is one of them. Built starting in 1854(in what was St. Anthony at that time), here is a pic of it in 1857:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/OurLadyofLourdes.jpg

Its still in the same location today:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/2008-0705-OurLadyofLourdesMPLS.jpg/417px-2008-0705-OurLadyofLourdesMPLS.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes_Catholic_Church_(Minneapolis,_Minnesota)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1157/1083827527_9ef0f85652.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1157/1083827527_9ef0f85652.jpg?v=0

The front part with the iconic bell tower was added in the 1880s.

The oldest house in MN is in its original location in Mendota(around 10 miles from dt Mpls), and dates back to the late 1830s:

http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/shs/images/shs.jpg
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/shs/

Its very close to historic Ft. Snelling, which was rebuilt from ruins in the 1960s..so a lot of the buildings are partially, to mostly original. The fort dates back to around 1820. Its right next to MSP airport.

http://www.mnhs.org/newsletters/mgg/2007/images/fort_000.jpg
http://www.mnhs.org/newsletters/mgg/2007/images/fort_000.jpg
The round tower is officially the oldest structure in the state..
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Fort_Snelling_Round_Tower.JPG/450px-Fort_Snelling_Round_Tower.JPG

we don't have very old stuff here, as you can see there wasn't much in this 1857 picture of Minneapolis, of course St. Anthony was the main city then. You can see the first bridge over the Mississippi (yes, the very first one!) in this pic if you look closely, it was a wooden suspension bridge. It is in the exact location of todays Hennepin Ave bridge, if that helps anyone figure out the angle on this pic.
http://www.chuckstoyland.com/potpourri/oldpics/Mpls%20photos/early/Bromley%20Early%20Photo%20PC%2028.jpg
http://www.chuckstoyland.com/potpourri/oldpics/Mpls%20photos/index.html

Sorry for the long post, I love this kind of stuff.

[edmontonenthusiast]

The Strathcona Hotel - 1891 - EDMONTON, ALTA

The oldest known building (some dates are hard to find) that is still standing in Edmonton is the Strathcona Hotel. It is in the heart of Old Strathcona on Whyte Avenue and is a small hotel right now. There isn't too much to the design, as many other buildings have more classic designs, but it was for a classic Prairie town, Strathcona. That's right - this building wasn't even originally in Edmonton. Strathcona was on the south side of the river, where as Edmonton on the north, in 1912, the city was annexed by Edmonton. Most of Edmonton's buildings come from between 1907 and 1918 when there was a big boom in Edmonton which brought the city from around 10,000 to 75,000 although immidiately after the boom it dropped to 50,000 and slowly grew from there.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2159/1581653312_652d1d2aed_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2159/1581653312_652d1d2aed_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2393/1580764667_97f7bf803b_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2393/1580764667_97f7bf803b_o.jpg

.

[photolitherland]

Heres one of the oldest building in the Arkansas River Valley region of Arkansas in Pottsville. Its about 5 miles down the road west of Russellville.

The white house is called Potts Inn and was built from 1854-59. It was built on the Butterfield Overland Stage Coach Route. I believe thats what it was called. Its still in the original location. Soon after the house was built though the stage route died out in favor of steam boat travel up the Arkansas River. So Mr Potts kinda got screwed on that one.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3597/3467431582_6e1d030253_o.jpg

[rockyi]

In the Quad Cities the oldest surviving structure is the George Davenport house on Arsenal Island. Circa 1832.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/rockyi/arsenal%20island/021_18a.jpg

There's me at the Davenport house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/rockyi/arsenal%20island/020_17a.jpg

The first structure built by white people was Fort Armstrong, also on Arsenal Island, built in 1816.
It was torn down in the 1840s.
This blockhouse of the fort is a reproduction probably built in the early 20th century.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/rockyi/arsenal%20island/008_17A-1.jpg

The site of present day Rock Island was originally the Sauk city of Saukenuk. It reached upwards
of 10,000 native inhabitants and was the home of the famous warrior Blackhawk. It had streets and
alleys laid out in a grid pattern, complete with meeting houses and a city square.
The white devils burned it down in the 1780s and again just before the Blackhawk War in 1832.
There are no traces left of this large city.

Another of our oldest surviving buildings is St. Anthony's Church in downtown Davenport. Circa 1836.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/rockyi/stanthonys.jpg

[SuburbanNation]

There doesn't seem to be a clear answer on what is the oldest building in St. Louis City. There are definitely old buildings within the metropolitan area, such as the Cahokia Courthouse just across the river from St. Louis, built in 1740 by the French. Unfortunately its been moved to Chicago and St. Louis a number of times, and isn't totally original now.

http://www.ipa-usa.org/region57/Courthouse.jpg
http://www.ipa-usa.org/region57/Courthouse.jpg

There are structures in Downtown St. Charles dating to the 1790s, just up the Missouri River from where it joins the Mississippi.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Historic_Saint_Charles_Main_Street_3.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Historic_Saint_Charles_Main_Street_3.jpg


In the City of St. Louis, there is the Bissell Mansion, built in 1823 by a ship captain from Connecticut. I have no idea if this is the oldest remaining structure in the City, and it seems neither does anyone else. There are possibly older structures "hiding" here and there, such as a possible fur trapper hut hiding under modern siding.

http://stlouis.missouri.org/neighborhoods/history/bissell/PAGE27.GIF
http://stlouis.missouri.org/neighborhoods/history/bissell/PAGE27.GIF

Lots of stuff like this in and around St. Louis was crumbling before the Victorian Era...

http://www.youranswerplace.org/services/lhgen/postcards/oldchouteau.jpg
http://www.youranswerplace.org/services/lhgen/postcards/oldchouteau.jpg

Our oldest buildings were built by the original French settlers of St. Louis, and they were happily swept away when the French American families started to loose their power and influence in St. Louis.

[photolitherland]

^^^
Is that old Chateau Mansion still there or did it crumble to pieces? And yeah, by the Victorian era the city was already about 110 years old I believe. I think it was the second city to be founded on the Mississippi by the French. New Orleans was about 1718 I think and then St. Louis was 1764 or so but then you have that courthouse that was built in the 1740s, that doesnt make sense. It such a shame though that St Louis lost its river front to reckless urban renewal, that area would have been a great place today. It would probably attract more tourists than the arch because how many antebellum city blocks are there left in the south? Hardly any at all. Freakin urban renewal.

[SuburbanNation]

^^^
Is that old Chateau Mansion still there or did it crumble to pieces? And yeah, by the Victorian era the city was already about 110 years old I believe. I think it was the second city to be founded on the Mississippi by the French. New Orleans was about 1718 I think and then St. Louis was 1764 or so but then you have that courthouse that was built in the 1740s, that doesnt make sense. It such a shame though that St Louis lost its river front to reckless urban renewal, that area would have been a great place today. It would probably attract more tourists than the arch because how many antebellum city blocks are there left in the south? Hardly any at all. Freakin urban renewal.

That home is long gone. There was some tension between the old power of the French families and the newer American and German speaking settlers from the east..there was no sense of urgency to protect these structures. The antebellum blocks downtown, while from the 1830s/1840s, were not all really related to the French/Spanish structures that were there before. The old rock house was though...I don't even want to get started on that...

St. Louis was only one of several French and French speaking Spanish settlements near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri, and happened to become the largest. Ste Genevieve, Missouri 60 or so miles downriver from St. Louis was officially recorded as being founded in 1752, though it possibly had activity shortly after New Orleans was founded.

Buldoc house in Ste Genevieve, built 1770, and moved and expanded in the 1780s. There are a number of other, rather old homes and structures in Ste Genevieve as well.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Bolduc-house.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Bolduc-house.jpg

Ft. de Chartres, just across from St. Louis, was built ain 1756.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Fort_de_Chartres-front_curtain_and_gatehouse.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Fort_de_Chartres-front_curtain_and_gatehouse.jpg

[blade_bltz]

Boston, MA:

North End - Paul Revere House (1680)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/2006Boston014.jpg/800px-2006Boston014.jpg

Dorchester - James Blake House (1648)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4f/James_Blake_House%2C_Dorchester%2C_Massachusetts_-_exterior.JPG/800px-James_Blake_House%2C_Dorchester%2C_Massachusetts_-_exterior.JPG

Dedham, MA:

Fairbanks House (1636) - oldest in Massachusetts

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/17th/fairbank.jpg

[LMich]

The oldest existing structure still standing in my city (Lansing, MI) would be the Kilbourn-Mead House believed to have been built in 1847, though, it has obviously been renovated and reconstructed many, many times. It was originally built in the Greek Revival style so popular a style for the city at the time, but much of the styling has now been covered over and removed. It faced demolition earlier in the decade but a husband-wife development team saved it:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3376696663_8a2a400d4f_o.jpg

The George Washington Peck House gives it a run for its money having been completed in 1855, though, some dates put it earlier. It's long since been divided into apartments and is popular with Lansing Community College students. Like the other house pictured, it's also Greek Revival in style.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/121586031_46a00a28dd_o.jpg

The Kerr House was also completed in 1855 and it's also Greek Revival in style.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2543558280_2e75984eb7_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/467458088_471dd84e9a_o.jpg

As you can see, most all of Lansing's oldest existing housing was done in Greek Revival.

[jodelli]

Duff Baby (bah-bee) house c. 1798. Dates from around the founding of Sandwich town (now part of Windsor, ON) after the British moved out of Detroit in 1796. http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/jodelli_bucket/IMG_1206.jpg

[LMich]

Jodelli, when was Windsor City platted/founded?

[jodelli]

Jodelli, when was Windsor City platted/founded?

What is now Windsor started out with French ribbon farms fronting on the river and just sort of grew from there.

The Wikipedia entry mis-implies that the town of Sandwich just south of the Ambassador Bridge was renamed Windsor. The two towns in fact coexisted for around 80 years, Windsor being upstream directly opposite Detroit.

AFAIK Windsor became a town around 1858. Other names considered were Richmond, Ferry and South Detroit.

Here's the oldest building from the original Windsor settlement, the Francois Baby (bah-bee) house from about 1812:

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/jodelli_bucket/babyhouse.jpg

[LMich]

One more thing, do you happen to have an historic map of the area? I've always been confused about the original extent of Windsor proper prior to agglomeration. It's really quite a bit different than what happened on the other side of the river. Detroit ate up just one other incorporated settlement, I believe (Delray). I mean, the city ate up quite a few different townships, but only overtook one other defined settlement.

How many former officially defined towns make up the Windsor of today?

[jodelli]

One more thing, do you happen to have an historic map of the area? I've always been confused about the original extent of Windsor proper prior to agglomeration. It's really quite a bit different than what happened on the other side of the river. Detroit ate up just one other incorporated settlement, I believe (Springwells). I mean, the city ate up quite a few different townships, but only overtook one other defined settlement.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/jodelli_bucket/wind.jpg

Windsor and Riverside 1935-66 boundaries in black, The Border Cities pre 1935 boundaries (left to right in red): Sandwich, Windsor, Walkerville and East Windsor/Ford City.

Pretty much everything in the picture except the far right is now part of the city of Windsor after expansions into townships in 1966 and 2000.

[nickkoto]

Arguably one of the oldest, still-standing structures in Metro Phoenix, Monti's La Casa Vieja (http://www.montis.com/history.php):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JYzEoviB7wM/SBeaCrKxDcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/x3tOTqMDa38/s400/DSC00985.JPG
Source (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JYzEoviB7wM/SBeaCrKxDcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/x3tOTqMDa38/s400/DSC00985.JPG)

The original adobe house (which has seen numerous additions as the restaurant grew) was built in 1871 by Charles T. Hayden, father of former U.S. Senator Carl Hayden.

Yup, Senator Hayden was born in a steakhouse.

They were actually talking about building a 20 floor condo tower (partially stilted) that would've sat directly atop the old building. I'm kind of glad the bubble burst before that idea got any traction.

[KevinFromTexas]

For Austin, it is the French Legation. It was built in 1841, and was the former French embassy during the 1840s when Texas was a Republic.

Following Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836, France was one of three countries (the other two being the United States and United Kingdom) to officially recognize Texas as an independent state. This was sealed in the 1839 Treaty of Amity, Navigation, and Commerce between the two countries. France subsequently assigned Monsieur Jean Pierre Isidore Alphonse Dubois, a secretary in the French Legation in Washington, to be the new chargé d'affaires of his majesty Louis Philippe, the King of the French to the Republic of Texas. Dubois was to remain in Austin to maintain an official presence there. When the common-born Dubois arrived in September, 1840, he had added de Saligny to his name and declared himself a count.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Legation

From Wikipedia:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/French_legation_2006.jpg/800px-French_legation_2006.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:French_legation_2006.jpg

Further reading about the Texas legations in London, Paris, and Washington.

A Texas legation was maintained by the Republic of Texas in Washington D.C., London, and Paris from 1836 through 1845.

In a bid to protect itself from almost certain invasion by forces from neighboring Mexico, the government of the republic sought to foster international ties. It did this by also opening the Texas Legations in London and Paris. Their opening is believed by some academics to be less an attempt by Texas to enter the international stage as an independent country and more a maneuver to prompt officials in the United States to worry that an independent Texas might allow British and French soldiers to mass on the south border of the U.S.

When Texas sought to join the United States in 1845, the British Empire supported keeping it independent. The British even offered to guarantee Texas's borders with both the States and Mexico. Texas was a tactical ally of Britain acting as a counterweight to the United States. Nonetheless an independent Texas was probably inviable for financial reasons, and when the Republic became a state in 1845 the embassy was shut down.

The Texas Legation in London was located on St. James Street near St. James's Palace in a building that also houses Berry Brothers and Rudd, a wine merchant's firm that has been at that site since 1730. On the north side of the building is a plaque marking it as the site of the legation.

The Texas Legation in Paris was located not far from the Tuileries Palace at 1 Place Vendome 75001, where there is today a plaque testifying to its authenticity.

The Texas Embassy cantina is a restaurant near Trafalgar Square named to commemorate the Texas Legation. At one time, the location of the restaurant had been the offices of the White Star Line, owners of the RMS Titanic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legation

[PhilippeMtl]

Montréal: Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice (1683)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Vieux_s%C3%A9minaire_de_Saint-Sulpice.JPG/445px-Vieux_s%C3%A9minaire_de_Saint-Sulpice.JPG
Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieux_Séminaire_de_Saint-Sulpice

Québec City

It is hard to tell for Quebec cause a lot of buildings dates from 17th century.

Auberge du trésor (1640) may be the oldest.

http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/outoftown/canada/quebec/quebeccity/aubergedutresor/0220rueste-anne.jpg
Source: http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/outoftown/canada/quebec/quebeccity/aubergedutresor/index.htm

[Cirrus]

Washington, DC: The Old Stone House located in Georgetown, built 1765.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/The_Old_Stone_House.jpg/749px-The_Old_Stone_House.jpg

Baltimore: Mount Clare Mansion, built 1763.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Mount_Clare%2C_Bayard_%26_South_Monroe_Streets%2C_Carroll_Park_%28Baltimore%2C_Independent_City%2C_Maryland%29.jpg

both images from wiki

Annapolis, MD claims to have America's largest collection of 18th Century buildings, a claim that is probably true as most of the central city dates to that period. The oldest buildings however date to the 17th Century. I can't find information on what is the absolute oldest surviving building in the city, but have found reference to at least one from 1670.

[Cirrus]

Wikipedia has an interesting list of the oldest buildings in America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_buildings_in_America).

Here are some highlights:

The absolute oldest thing on the list:
The Hopewell Mound City near Chillicothe, Ohio, dating from 200 BC
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Hopewell_culture_nhp_mounds_chillicothe_ohio_2006.jpg/800px-Hopewell_culture_nhp_mounds_chillicothe_ohio_2006.jpg

Oldest non-earthwork:
Taos Pueblo, near Taos, NM, dating from as early as 1,000 CE
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/41/NMtrip-05-042.jpg/800px-NMtrip-05-042.jpg

Oldest European building:
St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church, North Miami Beach, FL, dating from 1133 (originally built in Europe, shipped to America in the 20th Century)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/St_bernard_de_clairvaux_church_entrance_2006.jpg/400px-St_bernard_de_clairvaux_church_entrance_2006.jpg

Oldest European building actually built in America:
?????? The wiki list doesn't say. Anybody know?

The wiki list does have info about Newport Tower in Newport, RI which was probably built around 1670 (making it not very noteworthy), but apparently there is a controversy surrounding it, as some scholars think parts of it might have been originally built by pre-Columbian Vikings.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/DSCN3887_newporttower_e.jpg/300px-DSCN3887_newporttower_e.jpg

Oldest building in the 13 Colonies:
Probably Fairfanks House, built in 1636 in Dedham, MA...
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/17th/fairbank.jpg

... But *maybe* Saint Luke's Church in Smithfield, VA, which probably dates to 1682, but some sources claim 1632:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/58/Newport_parish_west_facade.jpg/788px-Newport_parish_west_facade.jpg

all images from wiki

[photolitherland]

^^^ That church that was shipped to Florida shouldnt really count imo since its not in the original location. As soon as a structure is moved from its original location it loses its importance since it is now out of context with its original setting.

[Evergrey]

I would consider a burial mound to be a "monument", not a "building" (similar to Stonehenge).

[Steely Dan]

^^^ That church that was shipped to Florida shouldnt really count imo since its not in the original location. As soon as a structure is moved from its original location it loses its importance since it is now out of context with its original setting.

what about a structure like chicago's henry b. clark house, which was moved several miles from it's original location, but then, 100 years later, moved again back to a location very close to where it originally stood? does that still count for the oldest building in chicago?

i would agree with you that the church in florida that was shipped over from europe is really stretching it, but the various movements of the clark house here within chicgao over the years kinda blurs some of those lines, don't you think?

[photolitherland]

^^^
I would say that if a house is moved within a few miles or even within the same neighborhood that it originaly stood than it still loses some of its history. There is a scale that many historic preservationists use to judge the historic merit of a building.

The most important aspect to a preservationist is wether or not the building holds any important historical relevance. Like if Abraham Lincoln stayed in the house or if it once held an important business to the area in it. Second most important is architectural style, then age, and then wether or not it still stands in its original location.

[Cirrus]

Clearly "what's the oldest building" is sort of like "what's the tallest building" - a question with many answers depending on the specifics of how you define the parameters.

[photolitherland]

^^^
In many places like a small town the answer is clear cut, but in large cities the question as to which building is the oldest probably becomes a lot more complicated. But as for the Indian mounds and such, those arent buildings, like a previous poster said, those are more like monuments.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Maybe a better topic would've been "Old buildings in your city still standing" since it seems this thread has taken that turn anyway.

[photolitherland]

^^^
Thats way too generic but it will probably evolve into that. But for the mean time Im going to go out and take some more pics of the oldest buildings in some communities that are near me.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Some Dayton Oldests (on the original site):

Oldest house on its orginal location,1802, former farmhouse on the west side

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/misc/OH1.jpg

2 or 3 years later, on what is now the east side of Dayton, came the Kemp farmhouse, built by a pioneer from Frederick MD. This part of what is now Dayton was settled by a group of pioneers from Frederick MD, mostly PA German in ancestry

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3468668819_aeaf8041d8_o.jpg

These are fairly old for the Dayton area as this pre War of 1812 era was mostly wood building.


The oldest city-house in Dayton its original location, from 1829. This was the year or the year before, the canal opened to Cincinnati, and reflected the beginnings of the "canal boom" era:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/misc/1829house.jpg

The oldest commercial building in the city proper (maybe..there may be one older or around the same age in the Oregon district), is the Chambers canal warehouse of 1851, the last survivor of the canal era, and opened the same year the railrod came to Dayton:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Rephoto-Webster%20Sta/refoto6.jpg

(the building to right. The buildings in the backrground to the left are from the late 1860s or early 1870s, definetly up by 1875)
(the oldest commercial building in the county is not in Dayton, the Florentine Hotel of 1814, in Germantown)

Oldest streetscape in Dayton: Tecumseh Street in the Oregon. between 1830-1850. (fist expansion of the city, during the canal era).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3468612855_a75cc78647_o.jpg

Oldest (mostly) intact neighborhood in Dayton, The Oregon. The stuff on the lower part of the pic, below the "Wayne Avenue" label was destroyed by urban renewal. The rest was mostly saved. Dates from 1830-1860s, but mostly from the 1840s and 50s. Tecumseh is the oldest street in the neighborhood.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3455239983_0d1cb5a780_o.jpg

[Cirrus]

Maybe a better topic would've been "Old buildings in your city still standing" since it seems this thread has taken that turn anyway.
"Old" by definition means "not gone". You wouldn't use the word "old" if you wanted to know what was built first but isn't there anymore.

[Matthew]

There are several neighborhoods with many streets of old houses in Winston-Salem and all of them are on their original sites. The Bohemian Brethren purchased the land of the current city limits in 1753 and named their settlement Wachovia (Wachovia Bank was founded in Winston-Salem and named after the original city name). It was a major trade center for arts and crafts and became an early industrial center in the 1820's. The city became an international trade center at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

The development of a second downtown, north of First Street, preserved Winston-Salem's original colonial downtown (south of First Street), which has more historic structures than colonial Williamsburg. Winston-Salem was one of the first four cities to have a nationally recognized historic district (Old Salem) and local business leaders raised money to restore Old Salem in 1948.

George Washington visited Winston-Salem in the late 1700's and praised the city. He visited for three days and explored the city's municipal water system, using hollow logs. Residents had running water in their homes. The hotel and restaurant George Washington visited are still standing and are tourist attractions.

Residents of the city's National Landmark districts are not allowed to add-on to their houses and must use paint provided by the districts. Each street must look exactly as it did in the 1700's, including resident's window treatments. Each Landmark District has a preservation specialist and archeologists. Old Salem is the nation's most authentic restoration of a community from the 1700's. The brick structure beside God's Acre is a city archives (library) of the city, with detailed records of every structure built (including receipts of all purchases) and not only contains city records dating back to the 1750's, but also contains the world's finest collection of 18th century European classical music. Yes, they know the exact hinges, who made them and where they are from, used on the doors, due to these records! The archives building is designed to withstand everything from severe weather to a major earthquake.

Winston-Salem Neighborhoods by Oldest "Pre-1860" House/Structure:

Old Salem National Landmark District: 1766 Restored
Bethabara Park National Landmark District: 1782 Restored (**Graveyard at Bethabara Park from 1759**)
Bethania National Landmark District: 1770 Restored
West Salem National Historic District: 1788
Waughtown National Historic District: 1789
Factory Row: 1814 Restored
West End National Historic Overlay District: 1815 Restored
Old Town Historic District: 1825
Country Club Neighborhood: 1829
Brookstown: 1836 Restored
Flat Rock District: 1838 Restored
Washington Park National Historic District: 1841 Restored
Downtown/Financial District: 1858 Restored
Holly Ave National Historic District: 1860

If you love old buildings and are in North Carolina, Winston-Salem is worth a visit, with early factories, the state's oldest skyscraper, colonial homes, historic rowhouses, colonial churches and more. Enjoy a picnic at Salem Square Park too.

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Wasn't Winston-Salem the largest city in NC until bypassed by Charlotte? The place sounds like it has a lot of character.

[photolitherland]

If I had a time machine, I wouldnt go back in time to see the dinosaurs first or something like that. I would go back and one by one take out all of the people who were in favor of urban renewal and then take them further back, to say the Permian, about 260 mya, and have them get eaten by mammal like reptiles.

[dchan]

The oldest here in Bethlehem is the Gemeinhaus:

http://explorepahistory.com/images/ExplorePAHistory-a0b5x4-a_349.jpg
http://explorepahistory.com/images/ExplorePAHistory-a0b5x4-a_349.jpg

http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/45459/1040189527015048202S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1040189527015048202mcvFRp)

http://www.historicbethlehem.org/wp-content/uploads/images/1-gemeinhaus-winter.jpg
http://www.historicbethlehem.org/wp-content/uploads/images/1-gemeinhaus-winter.jpg

Here's a description:

House on the Lecha: An Architectural History of Bethlehem’s Gemeinhaus: This exhibit will document the development of the oldest surviving Moravian Gemeinhaus — from its origin as Bethlehem’s “Community House”, tracing its evolution as a place of residence to its current use as home to the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem.

The 1741 Gemeinhaus, Bethlehem’s oldest building and a National Historic Landmark, houses a museum that tells the stories of the Moravian founders. Opening the herringbone-patterned doors of this five-story log structure, the largest 18th century log building in the United States, reveals a place which served as home, school, church, and workspace during the community’s earliest days. The museum complex also includes the 1752 Apothecary, or drug store, and the 1758 Nain-Schober House, the only remaining 18th century residence for Christianized American Indians in eastern Pennsylvania, currently undergoing restoration.

I passed it several times on Church Street, but never knew it was the oldest house in Bethlehem. It looks really nice, and complements the rest of the nice houses in North Bethlehem (or is it that those houses complement the Gemeinhaus?). I believe that the house is part of Moravian College.

[DenverInfill]

Oldest structure in the city of Denver is Four Mile House, built in 1859:

http://www.denverinfill.com/sspuploads/four_mile_house.jpg

photo source: www.denvereclectics.com/img/four_mile_house.jpg

[Matthew]

Winston-Salem was North Carolina's largest city, during the Industrial Revolution and held the title until Charlotte took it. Winston-Salem tied with Detroit on the top 10 list of fastest growing cities in the nation in 1920, with growth over 110%. This is amazing when you notice North Carolina was losing population to northern states during the Industrial Revolution. Winston-Salem was also 75%+ of North Carolina's tax revenue in the 1920's and Winston-Salem had the state's tallest and largest skyline until Charlotte's recent rise as a banking center. The largest employer in the state and the largest taxpayer in the state were in Winston-Salem until the late 1980's. It's different from the other cities around it. Entering the city, you see the eastern third of Downtown is filled with tall industrial buildings from the late 1800's to the 1940's, including a large coal power plant, with smoke stacks rising beside the city's second tallest office tower. This area is in the process to become a national historic district, so Wexford Science & Technology can use the tax credits to convert the industrial buildings to a research park and entertainment complex. Most of North Carolina's cities grew around Interstate highways, with the automobile age. Winston-Salem's fastest growth period was before anyone knew what an Interstate Highway was.

It's interesting to follow Bethlehem, because the founders of Winston-Salem are from there. In the 1700's, North Carolina was a colony of poor farmers and had no craftsmen. The colony's government made a trip to the north to find artists and craftsmen to establish a center of trade for the state. They found Bethlehem and invited them to settle in the western part of the state. Many of Bethlehem's artists and craftsmen and the architect of their buildings followed the Great Wagon Road to Winston-Salem. You can see the similarities between the structures. Notice the roof and doors. This also explains how Winston-Salem became a Moravian city and an arts center in a Baptist state.

Also of interest: West Salem, Illinois was founded by Winston-Salem residents in the 1830's. Winston-Salem is the nation's largest Moravian City and the headquarters of the Moravian Church Southern Province. The city's symbols are a large Coffee Pot from the 1850's (located downtown) and a Moravian Star. Winston-Salem was the world's only manufacturer of these stars in the early 1900's and they became popular nationwide as Christmas Stars after a famous writer visited the city in the early 1920's and wrote about Christmas in Winston-Salem. These stars are seen year-round on people's houses and businesses. They are also used in architecture in the city. Moravian Revival architecture was developed in Winston-Salem around these stars and the arches and yes, the city's tallest building is the tallest Moravian Revival structure in the world.

[photolitherland]

Im going to have to visit that Winston Salem place someday. It seems so fascinating! So much history is left and thats incredibly rare to find. Thanks for all the info on that town.

[dugdogmaster]

Unknown exact date, but estimates are anywhere from the mid 1700s to the early 1800s

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l212/dugdogmaster/IMG_0182.jpg

[muppet]

Roman ruins, London 200AD

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p269816-London-Roman_wall.jpg
http://photos.igougo.com

http://image57.webshots.com/457/1/3/56/2511103560038418500pceEqD_ph.jpg
http://image57.webshots.com


http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/UK/London/Highlights/RomanWall.jpg
www.richard-seaman.com



the old City Wall in the Financial District

http://londonist.com/attachments/Matt/londonwall.jpg http://www.infobritain.co.uk/London_Wall.jpg
http://londonist.com, www.infobritain.co.uk


the oldest intact building is the Tower of London, 1066-1078


http://www.bestvaluetours.co.uk/images/scara%20images/tower%20of%20london.jpg
www.bestvaluetours.co.uk
http://www.london-tower.info/Tower/white-tower.jpg
http://www.london-tower.info
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2211/2178766424_9cf98afd9e.jpg
www.flickr.com


section of the Roman Wall in the Tower of London:

http://www.maryjones.us/travel/roman2.jpg
www.maryjones.us

[photolitherland]

^^^
Hey thats not fair, trying to show all of us Americans up with your Roman ruins and such, pff.

[Capsule F]

I've lived in a house a good portion of my life that is older then most things on this thread. And it wasn't even noteworthy.

[TimCity2000]

Great thread!

I don't know if this is the oldest building in Huntsville, Alabama... but I do know it's the oldest building in Alabama still open to the public (or something like that).

Built in 1819, it is now the Weeden House Museum:

http://www.weedenhousemuseum.com/images/weeden_house-cutout_-_framed.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

yeah, that Winston-Salem stuff sounds really interesting. It makes me think of what is the oldest factory building here in Dayton, since manufacturing pretty much built this city.

Matthew, do you have a link to some pix of W-S industrial district that you mentioned? I'd be interested in seeing that.

[brickell]

For Miami we have 3 different ones depending on how you want to define it.

The aforementioned Spanish monastery. (The oldest building, but didn't occupy the space until 1952)
http://www.spanishmonastery.com/index.html

The old structure is the Cape Florida lighthouse. (Built in 1825, burned by Seminoles in 1836, rebuilt 1855)
http://www.floridastateparks.org/capeflorida/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3575/3410285673_f58f94b546.jpg?v=0

The oldest home is the William Wagner House (built in 1857) but moved to Lummus Park in 1979
http://www.historicpreservationmiami.com/images/sites/photos/current/wagner.jpg
src: http://www.historicpreservationmiami.com/wwagner.html

The oldest home still in it's original location is the Barnacle (Built in 1891)
http://www.floridastateparks.org/TheBarnacle/
http://z.about.com/d/miami/1/7/H/3/The_Barnacle_on_Bisca-4697.jpg
src: http://miami.about.com/od/photosofmiami/ig/Miami-Attractions/

Special mention for Browns Hotel on Miami Beach, the first hotel there. (built 191)
http://www.thebrownshotel.com/
The original wood frame structure was stuccoed over years later and forgotten about. It was "discovered" and refurbished to it's original facade a couple of years ago.

[PA Pride]

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p269816-London-Roman_wall.jpg


:cheers:


You win.

[muppet]

That home is long gone. There was some tension between the old power of the French families and the newer American and German speaking settlers from the east..there was no sense of urgency to protect these structures. The antebellum blocks downtown, while from the 1830s/1840s, were not all really related to the French/Spanish structures that were there before. The old rock house was though...I don't even want to get started on that...

St. Louis was only one of several French and French speaking Spanish settlements near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri, and happened to become the largest. Ste Genevieve, Missouri 60 or so miles downriver from St. Louis was officially recorded as being founded in 1752, though it possibly had activity shortly after New Orleans was founded.

Buldoc house in Ste Genevieve, built 1770, and moved and expanded in the 1780s. There are a number of other, rather old homes and structures in Ste Genevieve as well.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Bolduc-house.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Bolduc-house.jpg

Ft. de Chartres, just across from St. Louis, was built ain 1756.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Fort_de_Chartres-front_curtain_and_gatehouse.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Fort_de_Chartres-front_curtain_and_gatehouse.jpg


wow, Im pretty much in love with the first building

[PA Pride]

wow, Im pretty much in love with the first building

You must really love wood. :P

[muppet]

mate, I get a wood for wood

[LMich]

Because the city almost completely burnt to the ground in 1805, and because Detroit's demolished quite a bit of its history, the oldest known structure still standing in Detroit is the Charles Trowbridge House completed in 1826:

EDIT: Have to find an image of suitable size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trowbridge_House_Detroit_MI.jpg

The structure lies right outside of the downtown freeway loop (a few blocks east of the RenCen) in the historic Rivertown warehouse district.

[hudkina]

Because Detroit was so small in 1805, the fire basically destroyed the entire city. Even in the 1820's the "city" was smaller than what we call "downtown".

[jodelli]

Because the city almost completely burnt to the ground in 1805, and because Detroit's demolished quite a bit of its history, the oldest known structure still standing in Detroit is the Charles Trowbridge House completed in 1826:

EDIT: Have to find an image of suitable size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trowbridge_House_Detroit_MI.jpg

The structure lies right outside of the downtown freeway loop (a few blocks east of the RenCen) in the historic Rivertown warehouse district.

Charles Trowbridge House, photo by Andrew Jameson

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Trowbridge_House_Detroit_MI.jpg/502px-Trowbridge_House_Detroit_MI.jpg

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

[R@ptor]

The oldest still intact building in Amsterdam is the Oude Kerk, which was started in 1250.

http://www.jochenhertweck.com/pics/netherlands/amsterdam/centrum/Img_9710.jpg

[HooverDam]

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg
Source (http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg)

Built sometime in the mid-1200s by the Hohokam, believed to be abandoned by the 1400s.

Well Case Grande isn't technically in Phoenix or really even the Phx metro, so I think we should give the award to Pueblo Grande instead, though there's not much there structurally besides a mound/platform thingy.

[KB0679]

For Charlotte, that would be the Hezekiah Alexander house which dates from 1774. Architecturally, the Hezekiah Alexander House reflects the influence of the German emigrants who came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania in the 1750s and 60s.

http://www.cmhpf.org/site-pix/HEZALEX1.JPG

The Old Powder Magazine in Charleston is the oldest public building in South Carolina, it dates from c. 1703-1713, and is the only public building to have survived the Charleston Wall. It was used as a powder magazine until after the Revolution. The walls of the Powder Magazine are quite thick, but the roof, in comparison, is somewhat thinner. That's because if the building were ever to explode it would fly upwards, not outwards. As it has never blown up, we are forced to accept that this is true. It is now a museum open for tours.

http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/AOB3526.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/124039914_75b4150236.jpg

[SFUVancouver]

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9539/vikingsinnfld.jpg
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_Aux_Meadows)

L'Anse aux Meadows is the only known Norse site in North America, outside of Greenland, and represents the farthest known extent of European exploration and settlement of the New World before the voyages of Christopher Columbus almost 500 years later. It was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1978.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_Aux_Meadows)

[dchan]

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg
Source (http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/casa-grande-ruins-national-monument-1.jpg)

Built sometime in the mid-1200s by the Hohokam, believed to be abandoned by the 1400s.

I must say....the Hohokam really knew how to build beautiful truss structures back then. :)

[raggedy13]

The oldest building in the City of Vancouver is generally considered to be the Hastings Mill Store. It served as the general store and post office for the forestry industry workers of the Hastings Mill on the south shore of Burrard Inlet, just east of Vancouver's contemporary downtown. It was the first commercial operation in the area and the settlement that grew around it eventually became Vancouver.

Hastings Mill Store - 1865

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7d/Hastings_mill.jpg/800px-Hastings_mill.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Mill

It was one of the only buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1986 and so was used as a hospital and morgue for the fire's victims. The mill closed in the 1920s and in 1930 the store was moved from its original location by barge to Pioneer Park in the Kitsilano neighbourhood where it was made into a museum.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Great_Vancouver_Fire.jpg/782px-Great_Vancouver_Fire.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vancouver_Fire

[raggedy13]

The oldest building still standing in Metro Vancouver (and believed to be the oldest in all of British Columbia) is the Fort Langley Storehouse, in the Vancouver suburb of Langley. It was constructed sometime in the 1840s after the original burnt down in 1839. Fort Langley was founded in 1827 as a fur trading post by the Hudson Bay Company.

Fort Langley National Historic Site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Fort_Langley.jpg/800px-Fort_Langley.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Langley_National_Historic_Site

Fort Langley Storehouse - 1840s

Photo circa 1931:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Fort_Langley_Storehouse.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Langley_National_Historic_Site

Storehouse today:
http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/44432/1127106911047582773S600x600Q85.jpg
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1127106911047582773gGiiZQ

[Matthew]

This is the oldest factory in Winston-Salem (Brookstown District).

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5259/0oldestfactory.jpg
Image Credit: Google

It was built in the 1830's as a textile factory with a large lake and is now a hotel, visitors center and restaurant.
The lake was filled, but the 1880 bridges remain, through recently repaired. A small tower rises above the factory
for one or two floors and the outdoor courtyard is one floor lower than the sidewalk, if I remember correctly.
The main entrance is actually the second floor (it's taller on the back side), so it is a somewhat tall building.
I'm sure it was considered a skyscraper by most people back then. It does appear on southern view skyline photos.
It's easy to see the early Moravian look of it.

The Downtown East Industrial District was developed in the 1870's. Winston-Salem had a downtown waterway and this was
tunneled underground (not allowed today), so they could develop the site for industrial buildings and build a major rail port
in the valley. Unfortunately, they didn't fill the area enough, so it does flood during heavy rains. Large parts of the district
were demolished over the years, but now a group of three developers will work together to convert the remaining
usable buildings into a research park, condos, offices and entertainment. Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and PTRP own
the last abandoned factories and SBER (known for their work on Baltimore's waterfront) did plan to develop the
half-billion-dollar project on their own, but the economy has forced them to take on a partner (Wexford Science & Technology).

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1208/matt107.jpg
Downtown East Industrial District

over the years, several buildings in the Downtown East Industrial District were renovated (artist colony,
research labs, galleries & condos/apartments). Several outside developers, a university and a few locals renovated
some of the structures, but when Wexford-SBER-PTRP finishes their plans, they will restore downtown's waterway
(to solve the flooding issues), with waterfalls and two lakes; build a 20-storey luxury hotel & park with concert shell;
convert the last 1.1 million square feet of abandoned factories to mixed-use structures; build new research labs and
the centerpiece is a conversion of the large abandoned power plant into an entertainment complex, with retail,
restaurants, clubs and more. First, the industrial district must become a National Historic District, so they can use the tax credits.
In the past, companies renovating old factories to condos, artist spaces or research labs would only seek historic status
for "their" buildings. This group is renovating so many buildings, they must seek historic status for the whole district.
That won't happen until this fall at the earliest. It will take a few years after to finish renovating these buildings. I am expecting
something impressive when they finish. The renderings of the proposed power plant renovations are amazing.

Many people love to take photos in this area. The power plant area consumes two large blocks and part of another and
has an almost sci-fi world look to it. If you like abandoned buildings, you will have to visit before the group begins their
renovation work. This group will remove large parts of the power plant as part of the renovation and clear the lot
across from it for use as a park and for retail development. This is where the group will daylight the Bath Waterway.

The Power Plant Complex: Notice the skyscrapers are only a block or two away.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/8979/0powerplant.jpg
Image Credit: Google

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7629/0powerplant1.jpg
Image Credit: Google

This is my favorite building in the Industrial District:

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5897/5castle.jpg
I took this in 2006. Notice the original road surface from the late 1800's.

From the days when Winston-Salem was the nation's wagon capitol. Nissen was the nation's largest manufacturer
of wagons during the 1800's. This facility repaired wagons transporting goods to and from the factories. The city
had two major wagon manufacturers and several smaller wagon manufacturers. Nissen actually made cars at their factory,
but they never sold as well as the wagons. The company remained in business until 1948. The 20-storey Nissen Office Building
(now apartments) was built as the state's tallest building by the CEO of the company.

[urbanactivistTX]

Since Houston is already spoken for...

Little Rock

Hinderliter House (c. 1830)
http://www.msbarnett.com/michael/oldhinderliter.jpg

http://www.msbarnett.com/michael/hinderliterfront.jpg

(Both from Arkansas Historian Michael Barnett http://www.msbarnett.com/michael/hinderliter.htm)


New Orleans

Ursuline Convent (1745)
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm53/wayne2k33/March2009133.jpg?t=1238303202

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm53/wayne2k33/March2009139.jpg?t=1238303346
With a nice 1727 "Bach" organ (said to have been played by Bach before it came to the US)

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm53/wayne2k33/March2009140.jpg?t=1238303489

[photolitherland]

^^^

Where is that house in Little Rock? I go there all the time but have never seen that house. hmm, also your photo says c 1830, I think you meant to say 1930 ;)

[John Martin]

The Beehive house in Salt Lake City. There's technically an older (anglo) structure still standing on Antelope Island but I don't consider that Salt Lake City.

http://i43.tinypic.com/vwtzt4.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2iqi9at.jpg

http://www.visitsaltlake.com/includes/media/docs/10b_beehive_house.jpg

http://www.usgwarchives.org/ut/ppcs-ut.html

[Joey D]

Wilmington, De

Old Swedes Church 1698

http://www.colonialswedes.org/images/Churches/HolTri1.jpg

Hendrickson House 1690

http://www.colonialswedes.org/Images/Forefather/HenHse.jpg

Fort Christina was built in 1638, but... its not really a building.

[huggkruka]

Saint Mary's Church, built sometime in the 1200's.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2066/2736231518_108f86e36e_b.jpg
Flickr: ChristofferGreen

Greyfriar's Monastery in Ystad, Sweden, built in 1267.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/112/255430640_adaba0a61e_b.jpg

Man, brick really lasts, doesn't it!

[PHX31]

For Phoenix, there is an even older adobe than the Monti's steakhouse location... it's near downtown. The Duppa adobe house, built in 1870:

http://doney.net/aroundaz/DA_phoenix_duppa.jpg

[Buckeye Native 001]

For Phoenix, there is an even older adobe than the Monti's steakhouse location... it's near downtown. The Duppa adobe house, built in 1870:

http://doney.net/aroundaz/DA_phoenix_duppa.jpg

Wait...is someone actually living there? Seems like that ought to be featured as one of the city's "Points of Pride"

[PHX31]

/\ I doubt it... and it's pretty sad because it's back behind a business in a parking. Definitely not "on display"... kind of neglected and forgotten.

There are a couple old adobes like these around town... a couple places along Grand (one in Glendale - in a park) come to mind. I'm not sure how old those are.

[Buckeye Native 001]

The car in the background is misleading. Looked like someone might've been living in the house. What are the cross streets? I'm guessing somewhere close to Central?

[PHX31]

115 W. Sherman

[urbanactivistTX]

^^^

Where is that house in Little Rock? I go there all the time but have never seen that house. hmm, also your photo says c 1830, I think you meant to say 1930 ;)

Right behind the River Market district (3rd st near the I-30 connector)... it's the Historic Arkansas museum. The last Territorial Legistature of Arkansas met here (before it officially became a state) in 1836.

[touraccuracy]

It was one of the only buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1986...

1886 :haha:

[FREKI]

For Copenhagen Helligåndshuset from 1296 is one of the oldest still standing

http://i44.tinypic.com/28rryh.jpg
KK.dk http://www.planogarkitektur.kk.dk/Arkitektur/Bygningsregistrering/Bygningsregister/Bygningsbeskrivelse/53%20Stilarter/Gotik%201150-1550.aspx

With the fires and wars over the years, and of course expansion, renewal and densification, most buildings from the past are gone now ( the city dates more than 1000 years back )

There are still many ruins left from all the way back to the 1100's but the Helligåndshus is one of the oldest still in use to this day despite it's 711 years of age..

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

It seems for northern Europe, say Germany and Scandivia, the "oldests" are usually from the 1200s (unless they are Roman ruins?).

I think back the the province my where my grandparents used to live, Hesse, and it seems, aside from a few things dating back to Carolinginian times, most "oldest" things start in the 1100s & 1200s and later (usually castles, fortifications and churches).

As Freki says, there has been a lot of building subsitution going in in Europe through time due to various causes. There is also the phenomenon of older shells and more recent superstructure, for example a village church burned during the 30 Years War, with the medieval stone walls still standing, but rebuilt in a sort of folk-baroque style via tower and roof and windows, but still using that stone shell.

[WIGS]

being a new resident of Calgary, I have no idea.

in Buffalo, the Coit house is the oldest surviving structure built sometime around the end War of 1812
http://www.buffaloah.com/a/va/414/08ext/image/01.jpg

[FREKI]

It seems for northern Europe, say Germany and Scandivia, the "oldests" are usually from the 1200s (unless they are Roman ruins?). We don't have roman ruins in Northern Europe - they were fought off at every invasion attempt and only came here for trading :)


For Copenhagen it was only a small trading port until in the early 1100's where Bishop Absalon was tasked by the king to fortify the city and take out the Wendish pirates who plauged the coast ( he did both perfectly )

So that is where the city went from sprawly wooden huts to bricks and stone - that is also why there's is virtually nothing left from prior to that..

Reconstructed 900'ish Zealand building
http://www.biopix.com/Temp/JCS%20Trelleborg%20vikingeborg%2041113.jpg
biopix-com http://www.biopix.com/Temp/JCS%20Trelleborg%20vikingeborg%2041113.jpg


One of the only open air ruins in Copenhagen lies right on my way to work - there isn't much left of it anymore, but it used to be a tower along the old city walls

http://www.aok.dk/files/specials/user_upload_image_big/25886.jpg
AOK.dk http://www.aok.dk/files/specials/user_upload_image_big/25886.jpg

Now it's a place young couples goes to have sex at night :)


The oldest structures we have here on Zealand are the "Jættestuer" - these were usually used for burials or as alternative shelter ( Denmark have no cliffs or caves ) and dates back 6000 years..

When the Danes arrived some 1800 years ago they thought they were the homes of Giants ( Jætter ) from Norse Mythology, so most were left alone and can now be visited

http://pjcaravan.dk/billeder/undersider/X-20080723154201265.jpg
pjcaravan.dk http://pjcaravan.dk/billeder/undersider/X-20080723154201265.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Tustrup_jaettestue.jpg/300px-Tustrup_jaettestue.jpg
Wikimedia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Tustrup_jaettestue.jpg/300px-Tustrup_jaettestue.jpg

[Evergrey]

well, it turns out Pittsburgh may have a "new" oldest building... and it took the threat of demolition to figure this out! :rolleyes:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09123/967356-53.stm

Old Stone Inn may be oldest building in the city

1793 accounts ledger indicates 1756 date on cornerstone may be accurate

Sunday, May 03, 2009
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/tavern_500.jpg
Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette
Amateur historian Michael Shealey with the Old Stone Tavern ledger from 1793 to 1796 in the William R. Oliver Special Collections room in the Carnegie Library, of Pittsburgh Oakland.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/20090503as_tavern101_500.jpg
Andy Starnes/Post-Gazette

Accounts from a 1793 ledger indicate a 1756 date on the cornerstone of the Old Stone Inn may be accurate.

Twenty years into this nation's history, a man could board his horse at hay, put his wife and child on a ferry and enjoy a "jinn" grog, cherry toddy or bitters by paying one publican in a building that still stands.

Pittsburgh's Historic Review Commission is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to recommend historic status for the Old Stone Inn, a West End landmark at 434 Greentree Road. If the inn is as old as growing evidence indicates, it may be older than the nation, even older than Pittsburgh.

No historic nomination in recent memory has led to such depths of discovery. Researchers have become giddy as they've uncovered the inn's story, which includes at least a peripheral role in the Whiskey Rebellion.

The inn's cornerstone date of 1756 has always been puzzling to historians, who thought it apocryphal.

The Fort Pitt Block House in Point State Park, which was built in 1764, long has been regarded as the city's oldest building. How, historians asked, could a building hiding in plain sight on a busy thoroughfare be older?

Also, stone construction in the region largely came after the 18th century. The late Walter Kidney, an architecture historian for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, estimated the inn was built around 1800.

Art Merrell, a West End resident who last year tried to interest investors in buying and restoring the building to be a tourist attraction, said it resembles buildings found in French-speaking Quebec. He contends early French settlers could have built it.

"I spent last year trying to save it and couldn't get anyone to invest a dime," he said. Last summer, when he discovered the building was for sale and sought to interest buyers who would restore it, he noted that Pittsburgh was celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding while neglecting many pieces of its past.

For a time, his was a lone voice. Even preservation champion John DeSantis, who nominated the inn for historic status two months ago, said he didn't suspect it had been built before 1800 or was significant.

Then, someone alerted Mr. Merrell that the Carnegie Library had an old accounts ledger from the inn from 1793 to 1796. It is designated as volume N.

"This volume indicates there were 13 account books before it," Katherine Molnar, the city's preservation planner, told the Historic Review Commission earlier this month. That would put the business, if not the building, in existence 40 years earlier, she said.

"That 1756 datestone so many people thought was apocryphal is looking more realistic," said Mr. DeSantis.

Greg Priore, archivist in the library's William R. Oliver Special Collections Room, said he had no occasion to study the ledger until the phone started ringing with requests to see it. It was donated in 1912 and later rebound, but the library has no information about who donated it.

"Nobody as far as I know had looked at it for a long time," he said.

The inn originally was a toll house at the northern terminus of the Washington Pike. Early owners also ran a ferry business and a sawmill and staged entertainment and political events. The inn sold sundries, boarded horses and accepted cash or bartered items such as raccoon skins, rye and odd jobs performed around the inn.

The building operated continuously as a restaurant or bar until two years ago, when Mario Pettica closed it. He sold it in February to Lee Harris, owner of Harris Masonry next door.

In March, Ms. Molnar, Mr. DeSantis, Dru Simeone, of the West Pittsburgh Partnership, Mr. Harris and his two sons toured the building. Mr. Harris had a demolition permit pending when Mr. DeSantis nominated the inn for historic status. Mr. Harris has not returned phone calls, but Mr. DeSantis and others say he is amenable to preservation efforts.

"We get in there, and there's 1970s remodeling of the tap room and bar," said Mr. DeSantis. "Once we got into the basement and attic, though, we were giddy. It was like being Indiana Jones if you're an old-building nerd."

A section of newer ceiling tiles had fallen to reveal the original attic framework, chisel marks in the stone and two original windows that had been covered.

"The more we're shining the flashlights, the more we're seeing an unintentional time capsule," he said. "We're suggesting the owners do nothing" until a state preservation officer and archaeology students get inside to investigate further.

The ledger indicates that the inn bore the footsteps of a slew of famous and infamous people in Pittsburgh's history, including John Neville, John Ormsby, various McKees, Wilkinses and Beltzhoovers, and John Woods, who helped lay out the city and served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was also the attorney of John Neville, the large-scale distiller and tax collector whose estate was burned in the Whiskey Rebellion during the early 1790s. Mr. Neville stood to benefit greatly when an excise tax was imposed to burden small distillers at a much higher rate. The rebellion of small distillers and distributors prompted the federal government to dispatch the military to quell it.

John Woods was in the tavern and used the owners' ferry the night before the raid on John Neville's estate in what is now Scott. In the ledger, beside Mr. Woods' name, is written the word "spy."

Hugh Henry Brackenridge managed the inn and ended up mediating between the rebels and the government. Mr. Brackenridge, a founder of the Pittsburgh Gazette, had to talk his way out of being hanged because of a misunderstanding of his role in the mediation.

Michael Shealey, a local amateur historian who has been researching the inn's history, said further research may determine if the rebels plotted the raid on Neville's home or other events of the Whiskey Rebellion at the inn.

"But once we index the ledger, we will see more connections to a lot of things," said Mr. Shealey, who believes the inn probably was built in the 1780s on the site of an earlier log structure.

The ledger is about 3 inches thick. Its amber pages feel like leather. The script, in handwriting resembling that found on the Declaration of Independence, lists expenses and revenues for grog, rye and oats, room and board, breakfast and ferry passages. Many words were variations on today's spellings, such as "jinn."

Among the entries: "Sundrie expenses for self and horse."

"Loaf of shugar, 1 pair of mittins, three iron hoop'd barrels."

"Horse at hay, three quarts of oats, glass grog, dinner and ferry," reads another.

"26 bushels turnips, 3 bushels corn, 25 bushels rye, 1 stack hay, wintering two steers."

One patron's bar tab reads, "Toddy lost at cards."

Several patrons are identified as "son of," and their father's names are listed on the other side of the ledger as having paid their bills.

The ledger also identifies patrons as stocking weavers, surveyors, butchers, bakers, tavern keepers, schoolmasters, coopers and haymakers.

One cheeky reference to a patron called "the United States" includes names unfriendly to the small distillers and their rebellious cause.

Mr. Shealey said the ledger promises to enrich the inn's history even more as historians interpret its entries.

"So few buildings in Pittsburgh are pre-Civil War" vintage, he said. "An 18th-century building is in a class by itself."

"This may be the only building still standing that the French built, when most residents were Native Americans," said Mr. DeSantis. "And to think it might have become a parking lot."

Mr. Merrell's dream of a complete restoration and a stream of tourists -- even an interpretation center and gift shop -- "are all much more likely now," said Mr. DeSantis. "This has been a heck of an adventure. Exciting doesn't happen much anymore."

Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. Also visit her neighborhood coverage online in "City Walkabout" at www.post-gazette.com/local.

[Drewcifer]

Fort Snelling is the oldest building in the Twin Cities area but the indian burial mounds in St Paul are the oldest man-made structure in the area. They date from around the 4th century AD:

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/Somnifor/stpaulapr0927.jpg

[Calalb]

A recently uncovered photo has proven that a rundown shed tucked among the bushes in an Inglewood backyard is Calgary's oldest building.



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q148/cgyboomer/ab-heritagehouse.jpg


Hunt House is behind Fort Calgary's Deane House restaurant on 9 Avenue.
(CBC News)
A photo has confirmed suspicions that the cabin was part of the Hudson's Bay fur trading post, sitting exactly where it was built back in 1876.

"It was pretty exciting when we saw this picture," said Sara Gruetzner, head of Fort Calgary, on Thursday.

"The Hunt House, as far as we know, is the oldest building in Calgary, in its original location."

(story from CBC News august11, 2006.)

[xzmattzx]

Wilmington, De

Old Swedes Church 1698

http://www.colonialswedes.org/images/Churches/HolTri1.jpg

Hendrickson House 1690

http://www.colonialswedes.org/Images/Forefather/HenHse.jpg

Fort Christina was built in 1638, but... its not really a building.

I'll add onto your stuff.

Oldest Building in Wilmington, from what I have read:

Old Swedes Church, built in 1698
Oldest church in continuous use in the United States
Also has the oldest pulpit in the United States

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3141/dscf1025pb.jpg

The Hendrickson House was not originally located in Wilmington. I think that it wasn't even actually located in Delaware; I think it was located in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.

Fort Christina doesn't exist anymore. Anything left in Fort Christina Park at the end of the 7th Street Peninsula is a replica, unless there is information that I have never read.

Outside of Wilmington, here are a couple other old Delaware buildings:

The Dutch House is the oldest house in New Castle. It was built in the 1650s, with some historians putting the exact year of construction at 1650. One of the only authentic Dutch colonization residences left in the United States.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3223/img1992pb.jpg

The Robinson House is on the corner of Philadelphia Pike and Naamans Road, where the old Swedish settlement referred to as Naaman's Creek was located. The Robinson House dates back to 1723, but the block house next to the Robinson House (on the right, behind the telephone pole and the spring house) dates back to 1654.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7007/img2309pb.jpg

[Calgarian]

Gotta love Calgary, our oldest building is from 1876. lol Amazing how big this city is considering there was nothing here 134 years ago.

[sopas ej]

SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

This is the oldest structure in the city I live; it's literally just a few blocks away from my apartment, and was built ca. 1840:

Flores Adobe
http://www.LAOkay.com/lathumb/laphoto/SanMarino37.jpg
From LAOkay.com

Flores Adobe in 1900
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078441.jpg
From the Los Angeles Public Library website

This building plays a historical role in California history; during the final battle of the Mexican-American War in California, the defeated Mexican forces met at this house, which belonged to General Jose Maria Flores, leader of the Mexican Army of California. General Flores and his staff held their last council here after the 1847 "Battle of La Mesa," which took place four miles southeast of Los Angeles. They discussed a tentative treaty that became the Articles of Capitulation, a model for the nation's only treaty to be written by the losing side. After this Battle, General Flores returned to Mexico. The house is still a private residence, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[McMahon]

Gotta love Calgary, our oldest building is from 1876. lol Amazing how big this city is considering there was nothing here 134 years ago.

It's also pretty sad that the only building surviving from 1876 is a rundown little shed.

By the way, I'm pretty sure that the l'Anse aux Meadows site posted earlier is a reconstruction.