- We defined the oldest town by the year when people arrived and officially established themselves.
- Photographer Matika Wilbur set out to photograph members of every Native American tribe, many of whom called these old towns their homes.
There are many ways to define when a city was founded. To determine the oldest city in every state, we did our best to remain consistent in defining the founding of a city by the year of its first settlement – when people arrived and established a place.
The unfortunate reality is that many towns that were “founded” were home to Native American communities dating back thousands of years, the members of which were expelled or wiped out by colonizing settlers who claimed the land as their own. The history of colonial America often erases their stories, but people like Matika Wilbur, a photographer who set out to photograph members of every Native American tribe, are doing important work to keep them alive.
History isn’t always pretty, but it is fascinating.
Keep reading to learn about the oldest city in every state.
ALABAMA: Mobile, est. 1702
A major port city, Mobile was founded by the French in 1702. While other sources credit Childersburg, Alabama, as the oldest continually occupied city dating back to 1540, it wasn't actually established until 1889.
ALASKA: Kodiak, est. 1792
Kodiak was founded in 1792 by Aleksandr Andreyevich Baranov, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Baranov was a Russian trader and merchant, who became manager of the Russian-American Company.
ARIZONA: Tuscon, est. 1775
Tuscon was founded in 1775, though the City of Tuscon's official website says it has been continuously settled for over 12,000 years.
ARKANSAS: Arkansas Post, est. 1686
Arkansas Post was technically the first city in Arkansas, having been established as a trading post by the French in 1686. But it was mostly destroyed in the Civil War and has since become a state park, according to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.
Georgetown is the second oldest city, founded in 1789, but is still a functioning city today.
CALIFORNIA: San Diego, est. 1769
Explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno renamed San Diego (formerly San Miguel) in 1602, but Spanish explorers dedicated the first California mission, San Diego de Alcalá, in 1769.
Santa Cruz was also dedicated in 1769.
COLORADO: San Luis, est. 1851
San Luis was established in 1851, by Hispano farmers, and named after a Catholic saint.
CONNECTICUT: Windsor, est. 1633
Settlers from Plymouth Colony built the first trading house in Windsor in 1633 on an expanse of land they bought from Native Americans who were living there.
DELAWARE: Lewes, est. 1631
The Dutch first settled in Lewes in 1631, according to its Chamber of Commerce. It calls itself "The first town in the first state," since Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution.
FLORIDA: St. Augustine, est. 1565
According to many historians, St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US, having been established by the Spanish in 1565.
GEORGIA: Savannah, est. 1733
General James Oglethorpe and 120 passengers traveling on a ship named "Anne" docked along the Savannah River in 1733, and the city of Savannah was born. It became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia.
HAWAII: Hilo, est. 1822
Hilo's history dates back to 1100 AD. Christian missionaries arrived in 1822, and it became a center of whaling and trade.
IDAHO: Franklin, est. 1860
Franklin was founded in 1860 by a small group of Mormon settlers and was named for Apostle Franklin D. Richards.
ILLINOIS: Peoria, est. 1680
French settlers Robert Cavalier Sieur de LaSalle and Henri de Tonti built Fort Crevecoeur on the bank the Illinois River in 1680, according to the Peoria Historical Society. Soon, a village grew around it.
INDIANA: Vincennes, est. 1732
Vincennes was a French fur trading post when it was established in 1732 along the Wabash River, according to the city's official website.
IOWA: Dubuque, est. 1837
Dubuque was established in 1837 by Julien Dubuque, a French-Canadian fur trader. He worked with the local Mesquakie Indian tribe to manage lead mines in the area.
KANSAS: Leavenworth, est. 1827
Fort Leavenworth was established in 1827 and is still in use today, making it the third-oldest continuously active military base in the US. It was the largest city on the Missouri River during the Civil War, according to the city's official website.
KENTUCKY: Harrodsburg, est. 1774
Harrodsburg, which was originally called Harrodstown, was established by James Harrod in 1774.
LOUISIANA: Natchitoches, est. 1714
Natchitoches, founded in 1714 by French explorers, resembles New Orleans' French quarter, and is sometimes referred to as "little New Orleans."
MAINE: Kittery, est. 1647
English settlers first arrived in Kittery in 1623, and it was incorporated in 1647.
MARYLAND: St. Mary's City, est. 1634
St. Mary's City was founded in 1634 by English Catholics who were escaping religious persecution. Many consider it the birthplace of religious freedom in the US.
MASSACHUSETTS: Plymouth, est. 1620
Plymouth is referred to as "America's hometown" for its famed Plymouth Rock, where the Mayflower landed in 1620 (though Jamestown, Virginia, also begets the title as the oldest settlement).
MICHIGAN: Sault Ste. Marie, est.1668
Sault Ste. Marie celebrated its 350th anniversary this year, having been founded by French missionaries and fur traders in 1668.
MINNESOTA: Wabasha, est. 1830
Wabasha was established in 1830, though it has been continuously occupied since 1826.
Some believe Stillwater, Minnesota, is the state's oldest town because it was incorporated in 1854, while Wabasha wasn't incorporated until 1858. But according to the year of first settlement, the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien drafted in 1830 establishes that Wabasha preceded it.
MISSISSIPPI: Natchez, est. 1716
Natchez was founded in 1716, by French colonists. It was the state's most active slave trading city.
MISSOURI: St. Genevieve, est. ~1735
The exact year that St. Genevieve was founded is unclear, but French-Canadian settlers could have established it as early as 1735, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
MONTANA: Stevensville, est. 1841
Stevensville was officially founded in 1841, when Father Pierre Jean De Smet rolled in with three carts, building St. Mary's Mission - the Northwest's first church and school. The town is celebrated during Western Heritage Days as the oldest town in Montana.
NEBRASKA: Bellevue, est. 1822
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Bellevue is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Nebraska. It was first established as a trading post in 1822, and moved to its current location in 1835.
NEVADA: Genoa, est. 1851
Genoa is a tiny town - according to its website, just 250 people live there. It was settled in 1851, as a trading post by a group of Mormon traders from Salt Lake City.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Dover, est. 1623
Dover's website states that it's the oldest continuous settlement in New Hampshire and the seventh oldest in the entire US. It was originally settled in 1623 fishermen and traders.
NEW JERSEY: Newark, est. 1666
Newark, the largest city in New Jersey, was settled in 1666 by 200 people (Connecticut Puritans), and was officially incorporated in 1693.
NEW MEXICO: Santa Fe, est. 1607 - 1610
According to Santa Fe's official website, it's not only the oldest capital city in the US, but also the second oldest city in the whole country. Santa Fe, which means "holy faith" in Spanish, was founded between 1607 and 1610.
NEW YORK: Albany, est. 1624
The capital of New York is also its oldest city. Originally founded as Fort Orange by Dutch settlers in 1624, the city was officially chartered by the British government as Albany in 1686.
Even though Fort Orange wasn't founded until the 1620s, Henry Hudson (of Hudson River fame), arrived in the area in 1609 and found it populated with Iroquois Native Americans.
NORTH CAROLINA: Bath, est. 1705
Bath had its 300th anniversary in 2005, celebrating the town's founding in 1705. Bath was also North Carolina's first port, and was lamost named the state's capital. However, after the town was passed up, it slowly shrank, and now has just 244 residents (as of the 2017 census).
NORTH DAKOTA: Pembina, est. 1797
The city of Pembina's official motto is: "Oldest Settlement in the Dakota Territories." While it was inhabited before this, Pembina's website reports that its first official date in history was 1797, when the first trading post was established.
OHIO: Marietta, est. 1788
Marietta holds the distinction of being the first city in the Northwest Territory, when it was officially founded in 1788, after a ship called the Adventure Galley sailed up the Ohio River and landed there.
OKLAHOMA: Fort Gibson, est. 1824
The sign that welcomes visitors into Fort Gibson proclaims it "The Oldest Town in Oklahoma."
Fort Gibson was founded in 1824 as a result of the rising tensions between the Cherokee and Osage Nations - the US felt they had to move their outpost further out west.
OREGON: Astoria, est. 1811
Astoria is the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains, due to its founding in 1811 by John Jacob Astor, the nation's first millionaire. Sixty five years later, in 1876, the town was officially incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly.
PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia, est. 1681
Philadelphia was founded in 1681 by English Quaker leader William Penn, when he was given the province of Pennsylvania by King Charles II. It quickly became the most important city in the 13 colonies.
RHODE ISLAND: Providence, est. 1636
Providence was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a preacher fleeing Massachusetts due to religious persecution. He purchased land and created his own city with the promise of religious freedom.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Charleston, est. 1670
The city of Charleston, named the best city in the world in 2016, was founded 346 years prior, in 1670 by English colonists. Charleston's main historical claim to fame is that it's the site of the first official shot fired in the Civil War, at Fort Sumter.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Fort Pierre, est. 1743
Fort Pierre's website claims that it's the oldest continuously occupied white settlement in South Dakota. It is home to a plate buried by French explorers named Verendrye in 1743, who were among the first white men to explore what would later become South Dakota.
TENNESSEE: Jonesborough, est. 1779
Jonesborough is known colloquially as "Tennessee's Oldest Town." It was founded in 1779 as a frontier town - 17 years before Tennessee was even a state.
TEXAS: Nacogdoches, est. 1779
Nacogdoches was founded by Don Antonio Gil Y'Barbo in 1779. According to the city's website, nine flags have flown over the town: Spanish, French, Mexican, Lone Star, Confederate and US, as well as one from the Gutierrez-Magee Rebellion, one from the Dr. James Long Expedition, and one from the Fredonia Rebellion. The rest of Texas has only seen six flags.
UTAH: Ogden, est. 1851
Ogden is the oldest continuously settled community in Utah, and was originally called Fort Buenaventura. Mormon settlers bought the fort in 1847, and it was officially incorporated in 1851.
VERMONT: Westminster, est. 1734
The small town of Westminster was founded in 1734, according to the Westminster Historical Society, but there wasn't a permanent settlement until 1751.
VIRGINIA: Jamestown, est. 1607
Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607, according to the National Park Service. Most of the early settlers died from starvation, disease, and war with the Powhatan Indian tribe living there. Today, it's a historic site, but no longer a town.
WASHINGTON: Steilacoom, est. 1854
Steilacoom's website states that it's the oldest incorporated town in Washington state - it officially became a town in 1854, founded by a boat captain from Maine, who was reminded of home upon seeing the area on the Puget Sound.Captain Lafayette Balch, a Maine sea captain, founded Steilacoom in January, 1851. Originally he called it "Port Steilacoom." A few months later John B. Chapman took a donation claim to the west, naming his town "Steilacoom City." In 1854 the new territorial legislature incorporated "Steilacoom" combining the two rival towns into one. They were joined by Union Avenue.
WEST VIRGINIA: Shepherdstown and Romney, est. 1762
It's a tie! These two cities were chartered on the same day: December 23, 1762. However, there's a debate as to which is actually older: settlers are said to date back as far as 1710.
WISCONSIN: Green Bay, est. 1655
Green Bay is more than just a football team - it's been around since 1655, when it was first established as a fur-trading post. While various Native American tribes lived in the region, French explorer Jean Nicolet visited the area in 1634 and named it "La Baye Verte," or The Green Bay.
WYOMING: Cheyenne, est. 1867
Wyoming's capital city is its oldest city as well. The city of Cheyenne was founded in 1867 after years of being a railroad town (the Union Pacific Railroad passed through on its way west). Cheyenne grew so quickly that it was nicknamed "Magic City of the Plains."