NY’C’s oldest buildings: There are a lot from the 1600s

[JMKeynes]

From curbed.com

https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-oldes...ngs-houses-map

[mrnyc]

1650's structures are pretty youthful compared to europe and other places, but old for the usa overall i suppose.

i have visited most of these sites. its interesting to see them and when you travel around it definitely reminds how young a country it is.

nice to have them all on a map like that.

[iheartthed]

I think it's interesting how modern the structures from the 1600s look, while the 1700s architecture looks very English-colonial era.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

1650's structures are pretty youthful compared to europe and other places, but old for the usa overall i suppose.

i have visited most of these sites. its interesting to see them and when you travel around it definitely reminds how young a country it is.

nice to have them all on a map like that.

Not really. If you see a building from the 1600s in England, France, or Spain, the locals will call it “ancient.”

[Crawford]

The New York area, for New World standards, has some pretty old buildings and institutions.

NJ has a cabin dating from 1640, CT has a home dating from 1639, and the Collegiate School, arguably the most prestigious boys school in Manhattan, dates to 1628 and the Dutch West India Company (though is housed in a brand new building).

The Dutch influence is still pretty obvious, and NY probably wouldn't be NY without those Dutch mercantilist beginnings.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

1650's structures are pretty youthful compared to europe and other places, but old for the usa overall i suppose.

i have visited most of these sites. its interesting to see them and when you travel around it definitely reminds how young a country it is.

nice to have them all on a map like that.

Other than monuments like Cathedrals or temples 500 years old is old anywhere.

Most buildings that old, even famous ones, have had to be rebuilt or extensively repaired several times over.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Other than monuments like Cathedrals or temples 500 years old is old anywhere.

Yeah, even in places like Rome, the streetscape very rarely dates to earlier than the late 19th century.

There are, of course, many individual buildings predating even Christ, but streetscapes tend to be new. Excepting a few smaller cities like Venice, it's rare to be walking down streets filled with 300 yo+ buildings. The high streets in Paris aren't much older than the high streets in the older North American cities.

[bilbao58]

The oldest building where I live dates from 1718. The namesake of my hometown said to remember it.

"It looked bigger in the movie." by bill barfield, on Flickr

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Crawford

the Collegiate School, arguably the most prestigious boys school in Manhattan, dates to 1628

brand new building, but the one it replaced dated from the 1890s. it had been in several different buildings since the school's founding.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

Not really. If you see a building from the 1600s in England, France, or Spain, the locals will call it “ancient.”

except unlike europe, you wont find much older than that extant in the usa.

of course all of these structures have been rehabbed and rebuilt to various degrees over the years.

unless they are giant stone pyramids and the like, i am always struck at how rather amazing it is to still have them.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

The oldest building where I live dates from 1718. The namesake of my hometown said to remember it.

Wait... What's it called? It doesn't look familiar at all...

(BTW, the oldest structure in my area dates from the 1790's.)

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Wait... What's it called? It doesn't look familiar at all...

(BTW, the oldest structure in my area dates from the 1790's.)

i know. i've visited, but just cant recall the name of that place. i think its the historic french legation by the grassy knoll, or something texasy like that???

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

The oldest building where I live dates from 1718. The namesake of my hometown said to remember it.

"It looked bigger in the movie." by bill barfield, on Flickr

I'm pretty sure the oldest building in Houston is a derelict shopping mall. /sarcasm

[jonspx]

Oldest inhabited house in the uk is dated around 1048. Though the oldest houses in the uk date back to 3700BC and are on an island off Scotland.