List of the oldest buildings in Delaware

Last updated

This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of Delaware in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Delaware and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon dendrochronology, 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:

BuildingImageLocationFirst BuiltUseNotes
Block House Block house01.jpg Claymont, Delaware 1654DefensePossibly the oldest building in Delaware, however, some date the building to ca. 1723
Ryves Holt House Oldestindela.jpg Lewes, Delaware 1665ResidenceLikely the oldest house in Delaware
Town Point SOUTHWEST FRONT FROM SOUTH - Kingston-Upon-Hill, Kitts Hummock Road, Dover, Kent County, DE.jpg Dover, Delaware 1677Residence
Lombardy Hall Lombardy Hall.JPG Wilmington, Delaware 1683 (earliest part)ResidenceNational Historic Landmark (NHL), home to Gunning Bedford Jr., a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Belmont Hall Belmont Hall Smyrna DE1.jpg Smyrna, Delaware 1685 (earliest part)Residencelarge Georgian addition built about 1753 by Thomas Collins, who would become the sixth governor of Delaware.
Hendrickson House Hendrickson House.JPG Wilmington, Delaware from Chester, Pennsylvania 1690ResidenceMoved from Chester, PA to Wilmington, DE in 1958
Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes) Old Swedes Front.JPG Wilmington, Delaware 1698ReligiousOldest Swedish Church in the United States
Brecknock SOUTHEAST FRONT AND NORTHEAST SIDE - Brecknock, U.S. Route 13, Camden, Kent County, DE.jpg Camden, Delaware ca. 1700Residence
Dutch House Dutch House (Newcastle DE).jpg Newcastle, Delaware 1701ResidenceBuilt either in the mid 1690s or 1701. Historic home and museum
New Castle County Court House Habs new castle county court house.jpg New Castle, Delaware 1732GovernmentOne of the oldest continuously used courthouses in America
Prince George's Chapel Prince George's Chapel, Route 26, Dagsboro (Sussex County, Delaware).jpg Dagsboro, Delaware 1755ReligiousEpiscopal chapel of ease
Barratt's Chapel Old Barratt's Chapel (Methodist), Route 113, Frederica vicinity (Kent County, Delaware).jpg Frederica, Delaware 1780ReligiousOldest Methodist church building in the U.S.
Pratt House Milford, Delaware 1785ResidentialFormer home of the influential Pratt family.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Philosophical Society</span> American scholarly organization and learned society

The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. Considered the first learned society in the United States, it has about 1,000 elected members, and by April 2020 had had only 5,710 members since its creation. Through research grants, published journals, the American Philosophical Society Museum, an extensive library, and regular meetings, the society supports a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape May</span> Cape at the southern most point of New Jersey

Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The southernmost point in New Jersey lies on the cape. A number of resort communities line the Atlantic side of the cape, including Ocean City, the most populous community on the cape, The Wildwoods, known for its architecturally significant hotel district, and the city of Cape May, which has served as a resort community since the mid-1700s, making it the oldest such resort in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American colonial architecture</span> Building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States

American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. These styles are associated with the houses, churches and government buildings of the period from about 1600 through the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site</span> Home of Ansley Wilcox and site of Theodore Roosevelts first presidential inauguration

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves the Ansley Wilcox House, at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Here, after the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President of the United States on September 14, 1901. A New York historical marker outside the house indicates that it was the site of Theodore Roosevelt's Inauguration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church</span> National Historic Site of the United States

Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes', is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the east, and Washington Avenue on the south. It was built between 1698 and 1700, making it the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)</span> Church in Wilmington, Delaware

Holy Trinity Church, also known as Old Swedes, is a historic church at East 7th and Church Street in Wilmington, Delaware. It was consecrated on Trinity Sunday, June 4, 1699, by a predominantly Swedish congregation formerly of the colony of New Sweden. The church, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, is among the few surviving public buildings that reflect the Swedish colonial effort. The church is considered part of First State National Historical Park. The church, which is often visited by tourists, remains open for tours and religious activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barratt's Chapel</span> Historic church in Delaware, United States

Barratt's Chapel is a chapel located to the north of Frederica in Kent County, Delaware. It was built in 1780 on land donated by Philip Barratt, owner of Barratt Hall, and a prominent local landowner and political figure. Barratt, who had recently become a Methodist, wanted to build a center for the growing Methodist movement in Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First State Heritage Park</span> State park in Delaware, United States

First State Heritage Park is Delaware's first urban "park without boundaries" linking historic and cultural sites in Dover, Kent County, Delaware, the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777. It is a partnership of state and city agencies under the leadership of Delaware State Parks. Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. The sites of the park highlight Delaware's role as the First State. First State Heritage Park is open year-round, with special tours of the sites given the first Saturday of each month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Quebec</span>

The architecture of Quebec, was characterized in the beginning by the settlers of the rural areas along the St. Lawrence who largely came from Normandy. The houses they built echoed their roots. The surroundings forced enough differences that a unique style developed, and the house of the New France farmer remains a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism. These were rectangular structures of one storey, but with an extremely tall and steep roof, sometimes almost twice as tall as the house below. This roof design perhaps developed to prevent the accumulation of snow. The houses were usually built of wood, though the surviving ones are almost all built of stone. Landmarks in the rural areas were the churches and the mansion of the seigneurs. The seigneurs built much larger homes for themselves, but rarely were the manors ornate. Each parish had its church, often smelter copies of major churches in Quebec City or Montreal. A unique style of French-Canadian homo church thus developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Lazaretto</span> United States historic place, first quarantine hospital in the United States

The Philadelphia Lazaretto was the first quarantine hospital in the United States, built in 1799, in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The site was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape, and then the first Swedish settlers in America. Nearby Province Island was the site of the confinement of the Christian Moravian Indians who were brought there under protective custody from Lancaster, PA in 1763 when their lives were threatened by the Paxton Boys. The facility predates similar national landmarks such as Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital and Angel Island and is considered both the oldest surviving quarantine hospital and the last surviving example of its type in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Buffalo, New York</span> Overview of the architecture in Buffalo, New York

The Architecture of Buffalo, New York, particularly the buildings constructed between the American Civil War and the Great Depression, is said to have created a new, distinctly American form of architecture and to have influenced design throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrickson House</span>

Hendrickson House is one of the oldest houses in the U.S. state of Delaware and one of the oldest surviving Swedish-American homes in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortonson–Van Leer Log Cabin</span> Historic log cabin in New Jersey, U.S.

Mortonson–Van Leer Log Cabin, is an historic cabin and one of the last historical dwellings in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. It stands on the grounds of the cemetery of the Trinity Church. It is one of the oldest original log cabins of early Swedish-Finnish architecture in the United States.

References