What Are The Oldest Cities In The United States

North American Indians were on the Northwas occupied by Confederate soldiers who built
American continent from as early as 11,000 BCE.an earth fort impede a Union advance up the
But these early colonizers did not live inJames River. Little further attention was paid to
permanent settlements and left little in the wayJamestown until preservation was undertaken in
of permanent buildings. The Anasazi built townsthe twentieth century.
such as Chetro Ketl, and the great complex ofSanta Fe, New Mexico: Santa Fe is the oldest
abandoned towns in Chaco Canyon, in what iscapital city in the U.S. and also the oldest European
now New Mexico. Mesa Verde is another ancientcity west of the Mississippi. Santa Fe also features
city that is over a thousand years old and wasthe oldest public building in America, the Palace of
built by the Pueblo Indians. However, almost all ofthe Governors. The first Spanish
these ancient pueblos were abandoned and nowGovernor-General of New Mexico established his
stand as ruins rather than vibrant cities. The onecapital in 1598 at San Juan Pueblo, 25 miles north
exception being Acoma listed below. Mexico Cityof modern day Santa Fe. The second
is probably the oldest city in North America, as aGovernor-General moved his capital south to
continuation of the Aztec capital ofSanta Fe in 1607 and the city has remained a
Tenochtitlán, founded in about 1325. St. John's,capital ever since. The city was the capital for the
Newfoundland, Canada was settled in 1528, andSpanish "Kingdom of New Mexico," and then the
claims to be the oldest European-settled city inMexican province of Nuevo Mexico, the American
North America. St. John's earned its name whenterritory of New Mexico (which contained modern
the explorer John Cabot became the firstArizona and New Mexico) and since 1912 the US
European to sail into its harbor on the Feast of St.state of New Mexico. Santa Fe was originally
John, June 24, 1497. It's also the easternmost cityoccupied by Pueblo Indians from 1050 to 1607.
on the North American continent.The conquistador Don Francisco Vasques de
The oldest continuously occupied cities in theCoronado described the Indian settlement in 1540,
United States:67 years before the founding of the city of Santa
Acoma, New Mexico: Forty minutes drive east ofFe.
Grants, New Mexico, lies the Pueblo (village) ofPlymouth Colony, Massachussetts. On December
Acoma, built on a sandstone mesa 367-feet21, 1620, 102 disillusioned English puritans sailing on
above a valley and approximately 7,000 feetthe Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock on the
above sea level. The pueblo was built on a mesaeastern shore of Cape Cod Bay in what is now
for defensive purposes, keeping rival raiding tribessoutheast Massachusetts. By the end of that
at bay. Native verbal history says Acoma waswinter, half of the pilgrims were dead, including
first inhabited about 700 AD although moderntheir leader John Carver. The colony continued for
archeological evidence suggests it has beena number of decades often close to collapse. The
continuously occupied from 1150, making itPlymouth colony was eventually surpassed in
America's oldest continually inhabited city. It ispopulation and wealth by the nearby
presently inhabited by a small population ofMassachusetts Bay Colony, centered in modern
Keresan-speaking Native Americans.Boston, In 1691, Plymouth was annexed by the
St. Augustine, Florida: Founded in 1565, St.Boston colony officially ending Plymouth as a
Augustine is the oldest continuously occupiedseparate colony. The city of Plymouth,
European settlement in the United States.Massachusetts claims a city charter dating back
Twenty-one years before the first Englishto 1620.
Settlement at Roanoke, Virginia and 42 yearsHampton, Virginia: Located at the tip of the
before the foundation of Jamestown, the SpanishVirginia peninsula on Chesapeake Bay, Hampton,
established St. Augustine. Spanish explorer DonVirginia is the oldest continuously settled English
Juan Ponce de Leon had landed in mainlandcommunity in the United States. The Indian village
America in 1513 and claimed the land for Spainof Kecoughtan, had been visited by English
and named it La Florida, meaning "Land ofcolonists before they sailed up the James River to
Flowers". Between 1513 and 1563 the Spanishsettle in Jamestown. In 1610, the English returned
tried to settle Florida but all their settlementsto the Indian village and began the construction of
failed. Finally, in 1565, the Spanish destroyed aFort Henry and Fort Charles at the mouth of
French garrison on the St. Johns River, Florida andHampton Creek. In 1619, the settlers chose an
defeated the French fleet. Near the destroyedEnglish name for the community, Elizabeth City.
French fort, San Agustín was founded byThe settlement became known as Hampton in
the Spanish admiral, Pedro Menéndez de1680, and in 1705, Hampton was recognized as a
Avilés, on August 28, 1565, the feast daytown.
of St. Augustine of Hippo. Parts of the originalNewport News, Virginia: This port of entry city in
Spanish colonial settlement from the late sixteenthsoutheastern Virginia lies on the north side of
century remain today in St. Augustine in theHampton Roads at the mouth of the James River.
layout of the town and in the narrow streets andAlong with Portsmouth, Hampton, and Norfolk, it
balconied houses. Thirty-six buildings of colonialconstitutes the Port of Hampton Roads. The
origin remain and another 40 that areactual date of settlement and how it got its name
reconstructed models of colonial buildings alsois disputed. It is estimated to have been settled
contribute to the atmosphere of the town.as early as 1611, but official records only begin in
Jamestown, Virginia: In May 1607, English1621 when 50 colonists arrived from Ireland. The
explorers with the Virginia Company landed onorigin of the place-name is obscure but is
Jamestown Island, 60 miles from the mouth oftraditionally associated with Captain Christopher
the Chesapeake Bay. Almost immediately theNewport, and Sir William Newce, who arrived
colonists were attacked by Algonquian natives,from Ireland in 1621.
who would continue with their attacks for years,Albany, New York: The area was visited in 1609
and the newcomers were forced to build aby English navigator Henry Hudson during his
wooden fort. Endemic corruption in the Virginiaexploration of the river that was later named for
Company in England convinced King James 1 thathim. The area was first settled in 1614 when Fort
he should revoke the company's charter and theNassau was created by Dutch traders. Ten years
Jamestown fort became a crown colony in 1624.later a group of Belgian Walloons built Fort Orange
The fort remained intact until the 1620s, butnearby. The settlement that grew around Fort
disappeared as a town sprang up around the oldOrange was made independent in 1652 and
wooden battlements. Jamestown was named therenamed Beverwyck, or "town of the beaver."
capital of Virginia until the statehouse burnedFollowing the surrender of Fort Orange to the
down in 1698 and the capital moved toBritish in 1664, the city's name was changed to
Williamsburg. The town effectively became ahonor the Duke of York and Albany.
ghost town with only a few occupants until aTen Oldest continuously occupied U.S. Cities
military post was located at Jamestown during1) Acoma, New Mexico c 1150 2) St.
the American Revolution, and in 1861 the island