This article lists the oldest extant buildings in Arizona, including extant buildings and structures constructed during Spanish, Mexican, and early American rule over Arizona. Only buildings built prior to 1850 are suitable for inclusion on this list, or the building must be the oldest of its type.
In order to qualify for the list, a structure must:
This consciously excludes ruins of limited height, roads and statues. Bridges may be included if they otherwise fulfill the above criteria. Dates for many of the oldest structures have been arrived at by radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology and should be considered approximate. If the exact year of initial construction is estimated, it will be shown as a range of dates.
Building | Image | Location | First built | Use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agua Fria National Monument | near Phoenix, Arizona | 250-1450 C.E | Residences | ||
Canyon de Chelly National Monument | in Four Corners region | 350-1300 | Residences | [1] | |
Montezuma Castle National Monument | Camp Verde, Arizona | 1100-1425 | Residence | [2] | |
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument | near Tucson, Arizona | 1150–1450 | Residences | [3] | |
Tonto National Monument | near Globe, Arizona | 1200s-1400s | Residences | ||
Sycamore Canyon Cliff Dwelling | near Clarkdale, Arizona | 1200s-1400s | Residences | ||
Navajo National Monument cliff dwellings | Kayenta, Arizona | 1250 | Residences | ||
Sierra Ancha Cliff Dwellings | Sierra Ancha Wilderness | 1280-1350 | Residences | [4] | |
Mission San Xavier del Bac | San Xavier Indian Reservation near Tucson, Arizona | 1783-1797 | Church | Rebuilt in 1783 near site of an earlier razed church built in 1692 [5] Likely the oldest Spanish colonial/European built structure in Arizona. | |
Cordova House | Tucson, Arizona | ca. 1848 | Residence | Oldest house in Tucson; now part of Tucson Museum of Art [6] | |
Duppa Homestead | Phoenix | 1870 | Residence | Adobe home of pioneer Phillip Darrell Duppa is likely oldest building in Phoenix [7] |
Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings located in Camp Verde, Arizona, which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States, between approximately AD 1100 and 1425. The main structure comprises five stories and about 20 rooms and was built over the course of three centuries.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, in Coolidge, Arizona, located northeast of Casa Grande, Arizona, preserves a group of Hohokam structures dating to the Classic Period (1150–1450 CE).