List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania

This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Pennsylvania and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon dendochronology, architectural studies, and historical records. Sites on the list are generally from the First Period of American architecture or earlier. To be listed here a site must:

• date from prior to 1776; or
• be the oldest building in a county, large city, or oldest of its type (church, government building, etc.),

Lower Swedish Cabin		Drexel Hill	1640-1650	House	Possibly oldest log cabin or wooden house in Pennsylvania
Wall House		Elkins Park	1682	House	Oldest house in Pennsylvania which has had continuous family residency, possibly the oldest stone house in Pennsylvania with part of the house dating to 1682
Caleb Pusey House		Upland	1683	House	Oldest English-built house in Pennsylvania. Only extant building known to have been visited by William Penn. Completed
Sign of the Bird in Hand		Newtown	1686	Tavern	Originally a residence, then tavern with other uses. Oldest frame house still standing in Pennsylvania. Famous as the site of the 1778 Newtown Skirmish during which Loyalists killed 5 and captured 16 to acquire cloth being manufactured for use by Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Now a private residence.
Farmar Mill		Whitemarsh	1683-1696	Mill	Oldest surviving mill in Pennsylvania. Also known as Mather's Mill.
Wynnestay		Wynnefield, Philadelphia	1689	House	Oldest house in Philadelphia
Wyck House		Germantown, Philadelphia	1690	House	Second oldest house in Philadelphia
Merion Friends Meeting House		Merion Station	1695	Religious	One of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in America
Thomas Massey House		Broomall	1696, later additions	House	One of the oldest "English" houses in Pennsylvania, one of the oldest Quaker homes in the state
Morton Homestead		Prospect Park	c. 1698, later additions	House	Farm founded in 1654
Edward Morgan Log House		Towamencin	1700	House	Home to the maternal grandfather of Daniel Boone
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church)		Philadelphia	1700	Religious	Oldest surviving church in Philadelphia
Brinton 1704 House		West Chester	1704	House	One of the oldest houses in Pennsylvania. Built by a Quaker family.
Rittenhouse Homestead		Blue Bell Hill (near Germantown), Philadelphia	1707	House	Home of William Rittenhouse, the first paper maker in British North America. Built by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas in 1707. 1732 birthplace of David Rittenhouse.
Old Trinity Church		Oxford Circle, Philadelphia	1711	Religious	Church of England services first held on this site in 1698 in a log meeting house that had belonged to the Oxford Society of Friends.
Newtown Square Friends Meeting House		Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania	1711	Religious	Early Welsh Quaker settlers in one of William Penn's two planned "new towns" built this meeting house in 1711.
Stenton		Germantown	1723	House	Home of James Logan, secretary of William Penn
Old Chester Courthouse		Chester	1724	Government	This is the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States. Served as a courthouse from 1724 until 1851, town hall until the 1960s. Now used for miscellaneous city, county and civic functions.[1]
Michael Billmeyer House		Germantown	1730	House
Quaker Mill House		Etters	1731	House	One of the oldest houses in Central Pennsylvania
Bartram's Garden		Kingsessing (now Philadelphia)	1731	House	The home of John Bartram (1699 - 1777), America's first botanist and father of William Bartram (1739-1823), himself an eminent botanist and artist.
Ephrata Cloister		Ephrata	1732	Religious	Established in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel, it is one of the oldest religious communities in the United States. It had the second German printing press in the American colonies which published the largest book in Colonial America, Martyrs Mirror.
Shelter House		Emmaus	1730's	House	Longest site of continuous habitation in the Lehigh Valley area
Augustus Lutheran Church		Trappe	1743	Religious	Oldest unchanged Lutheran church building in the United States in continuous use by the same congregation.[2][3]
Grumblethorpe		Germantown	1744	House
Belmont Mansion (Philadelphia)		Philadelphia	1745	House
Germantown White House		Germantown	1752	House	Twice served as temporary residence of George Washington during his presidency.
Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' Houses		Germantown	1760	School
Cliveden (Benjamin Chew House)		Germantown	1763	House	Scene of fighting at the Battle of Germantown
Fort Pitt Blockhouse		Pittsburgh	1764	Defense	Oldest structure in Pittsburgh and one of the oldest colonial structures west of the Allegheny Mountains
Harris Cameron Mansion		Harrisburg	1766	House	One of the oldest structures in Harrisburg built right after the French and Indian War.
Concord School House (Philadelphia)		Germantown	1775	School
The Headhouse at New Market		Philadelphia	1804	Firehouse	Oldest firehouse in the United States
Dickson Tavern		Erie	1815	Commercial	Oldest building in Erie
Academy Hall		Edinboro University	1857	Educational	Oldest normal school building in Pennsylvania
Sturgis Pretzel House		Lititz	1861	Commercial	Oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the United States[4]
Leap-The-Dips		Altoona	1902	Entertainment	Oldest wooden roller coaster in the United States

See also

• Oldest buildings in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pennsylvania

References

1. 1724 Court House, Chester, PA
2. "Augustus Lutheran Church". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
3. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
4. http://www.fieldtrip.com/pa/76264354.htm Accessed July 27, 2007