This article attempts to list the oldest buildings in the state of Texas in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Texas and any other surviving structures, including those constructed during the Spanish colonization, before independence and statehood. Some dates are approximate and based on architectural studies and historical records, other dates are based on dendrochronology. All entries should include citation with reference to: period architectural features; a report by an architectural historian; or dendrochronology. Sites on the list are generally from the earliest period architecture. Only buildings built prior to 1860 are suitable for inclusion on this list or the building must be the oldest of its type.
Building | Image | Location | First Built | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Alamo | San Antonio | 1718 | Part of the San Antonio Missions, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Site of the Battle of the Alamo. | |
Alamo Mission Long Barracks | San Antonio | c. 1724 | The Alamo Chapel and Priests quarters and convent (Long Barracks) in San Antonio. In the center of the surrounding area are the remains of the "Long Barracks" which were constructed 20 years before the Chapel. Founded in 1718 and moved to present site 1724. [1] | |
Mission Concepcion | San Antonio | 1731 | Part of the San Antonio Missions; listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. | |
Mission San Juan Capistrano (Texas) | south of San Antonio | 1731 | Spanish Mission [2] | |
Espada Acequia | south of San Antonio | 1731 | Built by Franciscan friars in 1731 to supply irrigation water to the lands near Mission San Francisco de la Espada | |
San Fernando Cathedral | San Antonio | 1738–1750 | One of the oldest Cathedrals in the United States; the oldest Cathedral in Texas. Listed on the National Register of historic places. | |
Mission Espada | San Antonio | 1745 | Part of the San Antonio Missions; listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Founded 1690; building current building constructed in 1745 | |
Presidio La Bahía | Goliad | 1749 | The best preserved Spanish presidio in the United States. [3] | |
Spanish Governor's Palace | San Antonio | 1749 | ||
Cathedral of San Fernando | San Antonio | 1750 | Oldest Cathedral in Texas, incorporates the walls of the earlier church on the site into the current sanctuary | |
Mission San Jose | San Antonio | 1768–1782 | Part of the San Antonio Missions; listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. | |
Juan Antonio Badillo House | Rockhill | ca. 1830s | One of the oldest houses in East Texas [4] | |
French Legation, Texas | Austin | 1841 | Oldest building in Austin on its original site; Built to represent the French government in the new Republic of Texas | |
Everard Sharrock, Jr., Farm | Dallas | 1847 | Oldest building in Dallas | |
Kellum-Noble House | Houston | 1847 | Oldest building in Houston | |
Mrs. Sam Houston House | Independence | ca. 1855 | One of the oldest houses in Texas, and later home to Mrs. Sam Houston | |
Winters–Wimberley House | Wimberley | ca. 1856 | One of the oldest houses in Wimberley, listed on NRHP | |
Tumacácori National Historical Park is located in the upper Santa Cruz River Valley in Santa Cruz County, southern Arizona. The park consists of 360 acres (1.5 km2) in three separate units. The park protects the ruins of three Spanish mission communities, two of which are National Historic Landmark sites. It also contains the landmark 1937 Tumacácori Museum building, also a National Historic Landmark.
The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Monterey, California, United States. The cathedral is the oldest continuously operating parish and the oldest stone building in California. It was built in 1791-94 making it the oldest serving cathedral in the United States, along with St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only existing presidio chapel in California and the only existing building in the original Monterey Presidio.
The Spanish Governor's Palace is a historic adobe from the Spanish Texas period located in Downtown San Antonio.
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park is a California state park encompassing the historic center of San Juan Bautista, California, United States. It preserves a significant concentration of buildings dating to California's period of Spanish and Mexican control. It includes the Mission San Juan Bautista, the Jose Castro House, and several other buildings facing the historic plaza. It became a state park in 1933 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. It is also a site on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.
Ste. Genevieve Historic District is a historic district encompassing much of the built environment of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, United States. The city was in the late 18th century the capital of Spanish Louisiana, and, at its original location a few miles south, capital of French Louisiana as well. A large area of the city, including fields along the Mississippi River, is a National Historic Landmark District designated in 1960, for its historically French architecture and land-use patterns, while a smaller area, encompassing the parts of the city historically important between about 1790 and 1950, was named separately to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Franciscan Friars established Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña in 1711 as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hainais in East Texas. The mission was by the Domingo Ramón-St. Denis expedition and was originally meant to be a base for converting the Hasinai to Catholicism and teaching them what they needed to know to become Spanish citizens. The friars moved the mission in 1731 to San Antonio. After its relocation most of the people in the mission were Pajalats who spoke a Coahuiltecan language. Catholic Mass is still held at the mission every Sunday.
Randolph Field Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the central portion of Randolph Air Force Base, near San Antonio, Texas, USA. Randolph Field was innovatively designed using Garden city movement principles, and includes a unique and well-preserved assemblage of Mission Revival and Art Deco architecture. Built between 1929 and 1931, it was the first permanent flight training facility of the United States military establishment, then the United States Army Air Corps and later the United States Air Force. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
San Pedro Springs Park is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Surrounding the source of the springs, the 46-acre park is the oldest in the state of Texas. It is the location of a Payaya Indian village known as Yanaguana, and is the original site of the city of San Antonio. The park is alternately known as San Pedro Park. The park was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1965. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bexar County, Texas on November 1, 1979. Although it is often stated that it is the second oldest city park in the United States after Boston Common, it is at most the tenth oldest after Plaza de la Constitución in San Augustine, Florida among others.
The Ysleta Mission, located in the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo within the municipality of El Paso, Texas, is recognized as the oldest continuously operated parish in the State of Texas. The Ysleta community is also recognized as the oldest in Texas and claims to have the oldest continuously cultivated plot of land in the United States.
Castroville Historic District is a United States historic district in Castroville, Texas. It includes the oldest parts of the city of Castroville and contains twelve designated contributing properties, including a Texas State Historic Site and numerous Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.