# What's the oldest building in the eastern United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356 "2008-10-31T00:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/1 "2008-10-31T00:33:09Z")
I was just curious about this and while you’d think this would be easy enough to find out, but I’m having difficulty. Requirements: 1- It has to have been originally built in America (i.e. the 13th century Spanish Monastery moved to NYC by Hearst and rebuilt in Florida doesn’t count) 2- It has to be the original building- at least in part- and not a reconstruction ala Plimoth Plantation. Candidates I’ve found: [The Wing House-](http://www.wingfamily.org/wingfamilyforthouse.html) a small house and fort built around 1643 on Cape Cod. It’s now almost unrecognizable from its original appearance, but parts of the original structure are incorporated into the current house. [The James Blake House of Dorchester](http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=221), MA (generally held to be the oldest building in Boston), built about 1648. [The Adam Thoroughgood House](http://www.virginiabeachhistory.org/thoroughgoodhouse.html) in Virginia Beach- there’s some debate over this one as accounts of when it was built vary from the 1630s to early 18th century. There was a fire around 1680 and the home was rebuilt, but whether it was basically razing and building a new structure or just repairing the existing one is an item of contention between some scholars. As for American Indian ruins, there are to my knowledge no actual buildings- lots of mounds and campsites but the houses were seen as somewhat disposable. Probably the closest would be the Lodge Room of [Ocmulgee Mounds](http://www.lostworlds.org/ocmulgee_mounds.html), created around 1000 years ago, but save for the floor it’s pretty much a total reconstruction. Portions of the [Castillo de San Marcos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos)in St. Augustine date to the late 17th century with some of the rubble used to make the mortar composed of houses and buildings built much earlier, but most of the structure dates to much later. Anyway, what would be some other candidates? It doesn’t have to be a house? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/2 "2008-10-31T00:40:32Z")
According to Wikipedia, it’s St. Luke’s Church (Smithfield, Virginia). > **[List of the oldest buildings in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_buildings_in_the_United_States)** > > This article lists the oldest buildings 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. > (Between Albuquerque and Farmington) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/3 "2008-10-31T01:14:02Z")
Ah, thanks! (Irks me I didn’t pull that one up.) ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/4 "2008-10-31T01:52:04Z")
So it’s not San Miguel Mission? ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/5 "2008-10-31T01:55:22Z")
> [@Mongo\_Ponton](#): > > So it’s not San Miguel Mission? The OP limited it to the eastern US. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/6 "2008-10-31T02:13:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 1- It has to have been originally built in America (i.e. the 13th century Spanish Monastery moved to NYC by Hearst and rebuilt in Florida doesn’t count) Damn! My first thought was the [Temple of Dendur](http://www.visitingdc.com/new-york/temple-of-dendur.asp). My second thought was the [Bowne House](http://www.bownehouse.org/), in Queens New York (oddly, not on the Wiki list). ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/7 "2008-10-31T02:19:41Z")
Long ago, I remember reading a plaque in St. Augustine, Florida claiming this. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/8 "2008-10-31T02:25:51Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > My second thought was the [Bowne House](http://www.bownehouse.org/), in Queens New York (oddly, not on the Wiki list). Not only is that not the oldest house in New York, but it’s not even the oldest on Long Island. The Old House in Cutchogue, NY dates from 1649, eleven years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Mike.V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mike.V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike.V)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/9 "2008-10-31T04:44:08Z")
It’s worth noting that the dates on almost all these structures are approximate. When you’re dealing with records from a rural, remote community 400 years ago the exact groundbreaking can be hard to pin down. That being said, there [seems to be](http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/virginia/isleofwight/stlukes.html) [significant](http://historichamptonroads.com/hm_k245.htm) [evidence](http://books.google.com/books?id=DA9_v6Ma1a8C&pg=PA694&lpg=PA694&dq=st+luke%27s+church+1632&source=web&ots=3siE-C1sgu&sig=03mVgHBElVVdv4cqijJ2yBMRHlg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result)that the aforementioned St Luke’s Church was built in the late 1600s. The National Park Service agrees that the Fairbanks House [dates to around 1637](http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/explorers/sitec25.htm), but still quantifies its declaration that it is “_perhaps_ the oldest framehouse standing in the United States.” (italics mine) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/10 "2008-10-31T09:53:26Z")
Well, what about the Newport tower? [http://www.unexplainedearth.com/newport.php](http://www.unexplainedearth.com/newport.php) > [@](#): > > Archeologists and historians for the most part agree that Governor Benedict Arnold—grandfather of the Revolutionary War traitor—had the Newport Tower constructed in the mid 17th century. As evidence, they point to a passage in governor Arnold’s will in which he refers to the tower as “my stone-built windmill.” > > Of course Governor Arnold never actually states that he built the structure. He may simply have been referring to the pre-existing stone tower that now resided on his land. In any case, all the will really proves is that the tower was in existence prior to the Governor’s death in 1677. > … > In “America: 1355-1364,” H. R. Holand lays out a convincing case that the Newport Tower was constructed in the mid 14th century by an expedition consisting of Norwegians and Swedes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/11 "2008-10-31T11:50:23Z")
If you’re going to start considering things like the Newport Tower (almost certainly dating from early colonial times, as archaeological excavations have shown, despite the tantalizing possibility some have claimed of a pre-Columbian European origin), then you might want to throw in the “beehive” structures at Mystery Hill in New Hampshire, AKA “America’s Stonehenge”. People have claimed that Vikings built them, or Irish monks, or even Phoenicians. The official view was that the Pattee family built the underground chambers and above-ground stonework. About the only group I haven’t read about as being held responsible are the native Americans, who you’d think were the most likely. > **[America's Stonehenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Stonehenge)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}42°50′35″N 71°12′25″W / 42.84306°N 71.20694°W / 42.84306; -71.20694 > America's Stonehenge is a privately owned tourist attraction and archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone st... ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/12 "2008-10-31T12:02:26Z")
So, things like the Cahokia mounds don’t count, I presume? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/13 "2008-10-31T12:04:27Z")
By the way, it’s entirely appropriate that on Halloween I suggest **The Witch House** , more properly the **Jonathan Corwin House** in Salem, Massachusetts. The plaque on the door reads “Circa 1642”: [http://www.corwinhouse.org/](http://www.corwinhouse.org/) You can tour it every day. Tons of folks will no doubt be there today, both in the house and doing things on the lawn, which is thrown open on holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/14 "2008-10-31T12:32:27Z")
Define “building.” There is an 885-ft. long stone wall on [Fort Mountain](http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Fort_Mountain_State_Park) in Georgia, believed to have been constructed between 500 B.C. and 1500 A.D. (The most accepted date being 500 A.D.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/15 "2008-10-31T12:37:45Z")
I guess this rules out Xanatos Castle. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/16 "2008-10-31T12:50:06Z")
I guess this rules out the house I lived in during college. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/17 "2008-10-31T15:49:57Z")
What’s the oldest commercial building that is still in use? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/18 "2008-10-31T22:03:42Z")
Commercial building? I don’t know, but **Shagnasty** owns a seventeenth century farmhouse IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/19 "2008-10-31T22:43:26Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > What’s the oldest commercial building that is still in use? I believe it’s the Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store in Florala, Alabama. I don’t have a cite, but if you’d ever seen their restrooms, you’d agree. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356/20 "2008-10-31T23:12:40Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Commercial building? I don’t know, but **Shagnasty** owns a seventeenth century farmhouse IIRC. Isn’t it an 18th century farmhouse? I could be wrong, but that’s what I recall. I guess we’ll wait for him to put the matter to rest. Anyway, while the question hasn’t been answered yet, I just want to comment on how bizarre it is to compare the situation to the UK and Europe. My wife was just watching a tv show where people in England were looking for houses, and half of them were built prior to the 1500s! Normal, middle class people were living in houses from the 1300s. That’s just crazy, considering a 100 year old house in the US (like mine) is considered _old_. So anyway, was what my wife watched in any way reflective of reality? Is it relatively common to live in a circa 1300 house in England? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-building-in-the-eastern-united-states/470356.md?page=2)