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Merchant Hope Church in Prince George County, Virginia 1657. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The designation of the oldest church in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church congregation. There is a distinction between old church buildings that have been in continuous use as churches, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as churches and those that were shuttered for many decades.
In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence (sometimes through great theological changes), and early congregations that ceased to exist. Some of these churches are located in areas that were part of the original Thirteen Colonies that made up the United States in 1776. Others were built in states that were later annexed, such as Louisiana and New Mexico. Sites on the list are generally from the First Period of American architecture or earlier.
To be listed here a site must:
San Miguel Mission | Santa Fe, New Mexico | NM | Approximately started in 1610 or 1626 | Catholic | The oldest church built in the continental US. The original adobe walls and altar were built by the Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the orders of the Spaniards, but much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710. Building has been within the U.S. since 1848, when the US annexed New Mexico territory following the Mexican–American War.[1] | ||
San Agustín de la Isleta Mission | Isleta, New Mexico | NM | Founded in 1613 and completed in 1629 or 1630 | Catholic | Originally built by Spanish Franciscan missionaries at the Isleta Pueblo. Like the San Miguel chapel much was rebuilt in 1710 as a result of the Pueblo Revolt. Building has been within the U.S. since 1848, when the US annexed New Mexico territory following the Mexican–American War. | ||
Jamestown Church | Jamestown, Virginia | VA | 1647 (Completed) | Anglican | Only floor tiles and foundations remain from the first brick church (with a tower added sometime earlier or later). Oldest church in the original 13 colonies. | ||
San Estevan Del Rey Mission Church | Acoma, New Mexico | NM | 1649 | Catholic | |||
Old Trinity Church | Church Creek, Maryland | MD | 1675 | Episcopal | Church building in continuous use; as such, oldest in the continental US.[2] | ||
St. Mary's, Whitechapel | Lancaster County, Virginia | VA | 1675 | Episcopal | |||
Third Haven Meeting House | Talbot County, Maryland | MD | 1681–84 | Quaker (Friends) | Oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States. | ||
Old Ship Church | Hingham, Massachusetts | MA | 1681 | Puritan, Congregational, now Unitarian Universalist | Only remaining 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in the US.[3] | ||
St. Luke's Church | Smithfield, Virginia | VA | 1682 | Anglican, Episcopal after American Revolution, currently non-denominational and does not have a congregation. | National Historic Landmark[4] | ||
Old Indian Meeting House | Mashpee, Massachusetts | MA | 1684 | Congregational/Native American | Oldest Native American church | ||
Old Quaker Meeting House | Flushing, New York | NY | 1694 | Quaker (Friends) | Oldest religious building in Queens County, New York City. The only surviving example in New York State of a typical 17th-century ecclesiastical frame structure of medieval design.[5] | ||
Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow | Sleepy Hollow, New York | NY | 1697 (completed) | Dutch Reformed | Oldest church building in New York state | ||
Grace Church | Yorktown, Virginia | VA | 1697 | Episcopal | |||
Old Norriton Presbyterian Church | Montgomery County, Pennsylvania | PA | 1698 | Presbyterian | Oldest Surviving church in Pennsylvania and oldest place of worship in Pennsylvania | ||
Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes) | Wilmington, Delaware | DE | 1698 | Lutheran/Episcopal | Oldest Swedish Church in the United States | ||
Great Friends Meeting House | Newport, Rhode Island | RI | 1699 | Quaker (Friends) | Quaker Meeting House, oldest surviving church in Rhode Island | ||
Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church) |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | PA | 1700 | Lutheran/Episcopal | Oldest surviving church in Philadelphia | ||
Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse | Portsmouth, Rhode Island | RI | 1700 | Quaker (Friends) | |||
Six Principle Baptist Church | North Kingstown, Rhode Island | RI | 1703 | Baptist | Possibly oldest surviving Baptist church building in the U.S. | ||
St. Mary's Episcopal Church | Burlington, New Jersey | NJ | 1703 | Episcopal | Oldest church in New Jersey | ||
St. Peter's Church (Talleysville, Virginia) | New Kent County, Virginia | VA | 1703 | Episcopal | Oldest Church in the Diocese of Virginia | ||
Old St. Andrew's Parish Church | Charleston, South Carolina | SC | 1706 | Anglican | Oldest church structure in South Carolina and south of Virginia, formerly Episcopal, now the oldest property in the Anglican Church in North America. | ||
Old Narragansett Church | Wickford, Rhode Island | RI | 1707 | Episcopal | Oldest surviving colonial Episcopal church in Northeastern USA | ||
St. Michael's Church | Marblehead, Massachusetts | MA | 1714 | Episcopal | Oldest surviving Episcopal church building in New England on its original foundation | ||
Merion Friends Meeting House | Merion Station, Pennsylvania | PA | 1715 (completed) 1695 (started) | Quaker (Friends) | Third oldest Friends meeting house in the United States. | ||
Old North Church | Boston, Massachusetts | MA | 1723 | Episcopal | Oldest active church building in Boston and a National Historic Landmark, the Old North Church (formal name: Christ Church in the City of Boston) is the location from which the famous signal lanterns are said to have been displayed for Paul Revere's midnight ride during the American Revolution.[6] | ||
Parish Church of St. Helena | Beaufort, South Carolina | SC | 1724 | Anglican | Oldest surviving colonial Anglican/Episcopal church south of Charleston | ||
Trinity Church, Newport | Newport, Rhode Island | RI | 1726 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal Parish in Rhode Island | ||
St. John's Episcopal Church | Hampton, Virginia | VA | 1728 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal Parish in the New World | ||
St Francis Xavier Church | Compton, Maryland | MD | 1731 | Catholic | Oldest Catholic Church in original 13 colonies. | ||
Brookville Reformed Church | Brookville, Long Island New York | NY | 1732 | Dutch Reformed | Oldest church on Long Island, NY | ||
Christ Church | Nanjemoy, Maryland | MD | 1732 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal congregation in Maryland | ||
St. Thomas Episcopal Church | Bath, North Carolina | NC | 1734 | Episcopal | Oldest church in North Carolina | ||
Old Donation Episcopal Church | Virginia Beach, Virginia | VA | 1736 | Episcopal | Oldest congregation in lower tidewater region of Hampton Roads (continuous congregation since 1637). Oldest church in the City of Virginia Beach. | ||
Cathedral of San Fernando | San Antonio, Texas | TX | 1738 | Catholic | Oldest church in Texas. Oldest Catholic cathedral in the contiguous United States. The church was named for Ferdinand III of Castile. In 1868, the cathedral was considerably enlarged in the Gothic style. | ||
St. Paul's Episcopal Church | Norfolk, Virginia | VA | 1739 | Episcopal | Oldest Surviving Building in The City of Norfolk. | ||
Augustus Lutheran Church | Trappe, Pennsylvania | PA | 1743 | Lutheran | Oldest unaltered Lutheran Church in use by the same congregation | ||
King's Chapel | Boston, Massachusetts | MA | 1754 | Unitarian Christian | Oldest continually used religious site in Boston, present church building 1754 | ||
St. Michael's Church | Charleston, South Carolina | SC | 1752–1761 | Anglican | Oldest church edifice in downtown Charleston, SC | ||
St. Paul's Chapel | New York, New York | NY | 1766 | Episcopal | Oldest church building in Manhattan | ||
St. John's Episcopal Church | Fort Washington, Maryland | MD | 1767 | Epsicopal | Located in the Broad Creek Historic District. The building is the 4th iteration of the church since the original was erected in 1695.[7][circular reference] | ||
Mission San Diego de Alcala | San Diego, California | CA | 1769 | Catholic | First of the 21 California Missions, oldest church in use in California | ||
The Falls Church | Falls Church, Virginia | VA | 1769 | Epsicopal | First church in Falls Church, Virginia and established by the colonial Virginia Assembly in May 1732 for the land north of the Occoquan River | ||
Guinston Presbyterian Church | Airville, Pennsylvania | PA | 1774 | Presbyterian | Guinston has records dating back to 1753. It was officially incorporated in 1754 and one of three original members of the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania. The Historic Stone Meeting house was constructed in 1773–1774. Prior to that they met in homes and a log construction sanctuary. | ||
Old St. Luke's Church | Scott Township, Pennsylvania | PA | 1774 | Episcopal | Oldest church west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania. Originally a log building, it was replaced by a frame church in 1790, and then the existing stone church in 1852. | ||
St. Gabriel Catholic Church | St. Gabriel, Louisiana | LA | 1776 | Catholic | Oldest church in the Mississippi River Valley | ||
Barratt's Chapel | Frederica, Delaware | DE | 1780 | Methodist | Second oldest Methodist church building in the U.S. built for that purpose (the oldest is St. George's in Philadelphia, PA, built in 1769) | ||
Mission San Juan Capistrano | San Juan Capistrano | CA | 1782 | Catholic | |||
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church | Kodiak | AK | 1795 | Eastern Orthodox | The first Eastern Orthodox Church to be built in the United States. The building has burned down multiple times and the current building was built in 1945. | ||
Center Church on the Green | New Haven, Connecticut | CT | 1814 | Congregational | |||
Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral | Bardstown, Kentucky. | KY | 1816 | Catholic | The proto-cathedral is the first Catholic Cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains. | ||
Brunswick United Methodist Church | Brunswick, Ohio | OH | 1817 | Methodist | The oldest church in Medina County and the second oldest in the Western Reserve. Still active today. Was expanded in 2002. | ||
Wyandot Mission Church | Upper Sandusky | OH | 1824 | Methodist | The oldest Methodist mission church in America | ||
Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church | Hendersonville | TN | 1828 | Cumberland Presbyterian | The oldest church in Middle Tennessee. Beech was organized as a Presbyterian church in 1798. The first Synod of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was constituted here on October 5, 1813. In 1828, the stone building was erected with three-foot thick walls, replacing the original meetinghouse. |
LaMarsh Baptist church Mapleton, Il was established in 1838 in a barn until the church was built later that year (or following year). The church added a basement in the 1950s, and added the new church in 1997 (keeping the old church in its location). As of October 27, 2021, they will celebrate their 183rd Anniversary, being the 6th oldest church in Illinois, 49th oldest in the United States and the 224th oldest in the world.[citation needed]
Shield Chapel Methodist Church was established and built in Canton, Illinois, in 1840 and still exists today, 181 years later.
Wesley United Methodist Church was established and built in Canton, IL in 1895. It is still in operation today both in its oldest church and 2nd building across the street.
Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. | St. Augustine, Florida | FL | 1565 | Catholic | Oldest parish in continuous existence in the United States of America. Parish established September 8, 1565, as San Agustin de La Florida, by Spanish conqueror Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Parish records since 1594 available in the Archives of the Diocese of St. Augustine.[8] | ||
San Juan Bautista Church | Ohkay Owingeh (formerly, San Juan Pueblo), New Mexico | NM | 1598 | Catholic | Oldest Native American congregation in the United States, and one of the oldest congregations in the United States[9][10][11] | ||
St. John's Episcopal Church (Hampton, Virginia) | Hampton, Virginia | VA | 1610 | Episcopal | Oldest English-speaking parish in continuous existence in the United States of America, current building from 1728[12] | ||
West Parish Church | West Barnstable, Massachusetts | MA | 1616 | United Church of Christ | Oldest church congregation on Cape Cod. Founded in 1616 in England by Rev. Henry Jacob by breaking with the Church of England. The second Pastor, Rev. John Lothropp, and 32 followers were imprisoned in 1632 by the Crown, and then released in 1634 on condition that they leave England. In 1639 Lothropp and 22 families found the town of Barnstable.[13] | ||
First Parish Church in Plymouth | Plymouth, Massachusetts | MA | 1620 | Originally Separatist (Calvinist) Congregational, now Unitarian Universalist | - | ||
Marble Collegiate Church | New York, New York | NY | 1628 | Reformed and United Church of Christ | Oldest church congregation in New York State (building from 1854) | ||
First Church in Salem | Salem, Massachusetts | MA | 1629 | Originally Puritan (Calvinist) Congregational, now Unitarian Universalist | First Puritan Church in North America and second Congregational Church in America.[14] Building constructed in 1838. | ||
First Church of Windsor | Windsor, Connecticut | CT | 1630 | Congregational | Oldest congregation in Connecticut | ||
First Church in Boston | Boston, Massachusetts | MA | 1630 | Originally Puritan (Calvinist) Congregational, now Unitarian Universalist | Oldest congregation in Boston, Massachusetts (building from 1968) | ||
First Parish Watertown (Watertown, Massachusetts) | Watertown, Massachusetts | MA | 1630 | Originally Puritan (Calvinist) Congregational, now Unitarian Universalist | |||
Christ Church | Stevensville, Maryland | MD | 1631 | Episcopal | Oldest congregation in Maryland, building from 1880 pictured. (current building from 1995) | ||
First Parish Church (Dover, New Hampshire) | Dover, New Hampshire | NH | 1632 | Congregational | Oldest congregation in New Hampshire (current building from 1825) | ||
Center Church | Hartford, Connecticut | CT | 1632 | Congregational | Oldest congregation in Hartford (current building from 1807) | ||
Old Donation Episcopal Church | Virginia Beach, Virginia | VA | 1637 | Episcopal | Oldest congregation in lower tidewater region of Hampton Roads (current church from 1736). Oldest congregation in the City of Virginia Beach. | ||
First Baptist Church in America | Providence, Rhode Island | RI | 1638 | Baptist | First Baptist Church founded in America, oldest church congregation in Rhode Island, oldest Baptist congregation in America (building from 1775) | ||
First Church, Sandwich Massachusetts | Sandwich, Massachusetts | MA | 1638 | Congregational church | First Congregational Church founded in Cape Cod by Mayflower Pilgrims, second oldest church congregation in Cape Cod (building from 1848) | ||
The First Church of Christ in New Haven (Center Church on the Green) | New Haven, Connecticut | CT | 1639 | Congregational | |||
Memorial Congregational Church | Sudbury, MA | MA | 1640 | Congregational/United Church of Christ | Established in 1640, the first meeting house built in 1643 in Wayland, MA. Moved to Sudbury in 1708. Current location and name established February 17, 1890. | ||
Saint Ignatius Church | Chapel Point / Port Tobacco, Maryland | MD | 1641 | Catholic | Oldest continually active Catholic parish in the 13 colonies. Oldest Jesuit residence in the world to have been continuously occupied by that order. Current church building constructed 1798. | ||
First Church in Albany | Albany, New York | NY | 1642 | Reformed | Established in 1642 to serve the Dutch inhabitants of the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck. (building from 1790s) | ||
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the Town of Flatbush | Brooklyn, New York | NY | 1654 | Protestant | |||
First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica | New York, New York | NY | 1662 | Presbyterian | Oldest Presbyterian church congregation in continuous existence | ||
First Baptist Church in Swansea | Swansea, Massachusetts | MA | 1663 | Baptist | Oldest Baptist church congregation in Massachusetts | ||
First Congregational Church of Greenwich | Greenwich, Connecticut | CT | 1665 | Congregational | Oldest congregation in Greenwich (wooden buildings in 1667, 1694, 1735 and 1835. Present stone building in 1896.) | ||
Old First Church | Middletown Township, New Jersey | NJ | 1668 | Baptist | Oldest Baptist church in New Jersey[15] | ||
First Church Of Christ, Simsbury | Simsbury, Connecticut | CT | 1671 | Congregational | 1697 is the year of the first full-time minister, although the townspeople had voted to establish a church in 1671. Various disagreements meant the first meetinghouse was not constructed until 1683. | ||
St. Philip's Church (Charleston, South Carolina) | Charleston, South Carolina | SC | 1680 | Anglican | Oldest congregation in South Carolina and south of Virginia, formerly Episcopal, now the oldest congregation in the Anglican Church in North America. Present church building 1838 | ||
King's Chapel | Boston, Massachusetts | MA | 1686 | Unitarian Christian | Oldest continually used religious site in Boston, present church building 1754 | ||
Pennepek Baptist Church | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | PA | 1688 | Baptist | Oldest Baptist church in Pennsylvania | ||
Brandywine Baptist Church (Chadds Ford, PA) | Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania | PA | 1692 | Baptist | Oldest Baptist Church in America West of Philadelphia[16] | ||
First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | PA | 1692 | Presbyterian | |||
Christ Church, Philadelphia | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | PA | 1695 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal congregation in Pennsylvania. | ||
Christ's Church, Rye | Rye, New York | NY | 1695 | Episcopal | Parish formed 1695; first church built 1706 (current building dates from 1868).[17][18] | ||
First Parish Church (Waltham, Massachusetts) | Waltham, Massachusetts | MA | 1696 | Unitarian Universalist | |||
Trinity Church, New York | New York, NY | NY | 1697 | Episcopal | Chartered by King William III in 1697. | ||
Trinity Church, Newport | Newport, Rhode Island | RI | 1698 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal Parish in Rhode Island | ||
St. Thomas, Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania | Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania | PA | 1698 | Episcopal | One of the oldest Episcopal churches in the US. Current building is the fourth. | ||
St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Perth Amboy, New Jersey) | Perth Amboy, New Jersey | NJ | 1698 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal parish in New Jersey (current building from 1849). Graveyard contains the oldest gravestone in New Jersey | ||
Church of the Holy Family (Cahokia, Illinois) | Cahokia, Illinois | IL | 1699 | Catholic | Oldest church of any denomination west of the Allegheny Mountains in the original 1783 boundaries of the US. At the time, this territory was part of New France, and this parish was founded by missionaries from Quebec. Historic log church constructed 1786 - 1799. | ||
Ste. Anne de Detroit, Detroit, Michigan | Detroit, Michigan | MI | 1701 | Catholic | Founded in 1701 two days after the founding of Detroit. Current building from 1886 | ||
Trinity Church (Swedesboro, New Jersey) | Swedesboro, New Jersey | NJ | 1703 | Episcopal (originally Swedish Lutheran) | First Swedish congregation in New Jersey | ||
Trinity Episcopal Church (Woodbridge, New Jersey) | Woodbridge, New Jersey | NJ | 1703 | Episcopal | One of the 1703 Episcopal parishes in New Jersey (current building from 1861) | ||
St. Michael's Church, Trenton, New Jersey | Trenton, New Jersey | NJ | 1703 | Episcopal | One of the 1703 Episcopal parishes in New Jersey (current building from 1810) | ||
St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Burlington, New Jersey | Burlington, New Jersey | NJ | 1703 | Episcopal | One of the 1703 Episcopal parishes in New Jersey (oldest Episcopal church building in New Jersey) | ||
Parish Church of St. Helena | Beaufort, South Carolina | SC | 1712 | Anglican | |||
Bangor Episcopal Church | Churchtown, Caernarvon, PA | PA | 1722 | Episcopal | |||
St. James Episcopal Church, Wilmington, NC | Wilmington | NC | 1729 | Episcopal | Chartered as part of the Church of England in 1729, St. James Parish is one of the oldest worshiping congregations in NC. The current church building was completed in 1839. | ||
Christ Church | Savannah | GA | 1733 | Episcopal | Christ Church was the first church established in the Province of Georgia, and is referred to as "the Mother Church of Georgia". The current building was completed in 1838. | ||
Trinity Church (Boston) | Boston, Massachusetts | MA | 1733 | Episcopal | After its former site on Summer Street burned in the Great Boston Fire of 1872, the current church complex was erected under the direction of Rector Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), one of the best-known and most charismatic preachers of his time. | ||
Old St. Joseph's Parish | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | PA | 1733 | Catholic | Oldest Catholic congregation in Pennsylvania. Present church building opened in 1757. | ||
Most Blessed Sacrament Parish | Bally, Pennsylvania | PA | 1741 | Catholic | Oldest Catholic church in Pennsylvania still in continuous use in original building, originally named St. Paul's Chapel | Bethel Presbyterian Church (Clover, South Carolina) | |
Grace Episcopal Church | Keswick, Virginia | VA | 1745 | Episcopal | |||
Stone Chapel Methodist Church | New Windsor, Maryland | MD | 1760 | Methodist | The congregation is the oldest Methodist congregation in North America, founded in 1760 by Robert Strawbridge, one of John Wesley's earliest converts. Strawbridge began the first class (Methodist Society) meeting in his own home and the home of Andrew Poulson. Many services were held under a white oak tree; known as the Strawbridge Oak, located on the Poulson property. This began a congregation of Methodists which continues to meet to this day. A log meeting House was erected in 1763 named Poulson's chapel. The Methodist congregation met here until the first Stone Chapel Methodist Church was completed in 1783. | ||
Clover, SC | SC | 1764 | Presbyterian (PCA) | ||||
Congaree Baptist Church (Gadsden, South Carolina) | Gadsden, SC | SC | 1765 | Baptist | Second oldest Baptist congregation in South Carolina (current building constructed in 1810) | ||
John Street Methodist Church | New York City | NY | 1766 | Methodist | The congregation is the second oldest Methodist congregation in North America (oldest is Stone Chapel in New Windsor, Md), founded on October 12, 1766, as the Wesleyan Society in America (building built in 1841) | ||
St. George's Methodist Church | Philadelphia | PA | 1769 | Methodist | Oldest Methodist church building in continuous use in the United States (congregation founded in 1767) | ||
Barratt's Chapel | Kent County, Delaware | Delaware | 1780 | Methodist | oldest surviving church building in the United States built by and for Methodists | ||
Chester-Bethel Church | Wilmington, Delaware | Delaware | 1780 | Methodist | Oldest Methodist congregation that has continuously gathered in the state of DE (building from 1873). | ||
First Presbyterian Church (Greeneville, Tennessee) | Greeneville, Tennessee | TN | 1780 | Presbyterian | Oldest Presbyterian congregation that has continuously gathered in the state Tennessee (building from 1848). | ||
Mother Bethel AME Church | Philadelphia | PA | 1794 | African Methodist Episcopal (AME) | AME Church and denomination (1816) founded in Philadelphia; oldest congregation in the United States (building from 1890) | ||
Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral | Bardstown, Kentucky. | KY | 1816 | Catholic | The proto-cathedral is the first Catholic Cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains. | ||
Cathedral Church of St. Paul | Detroit | MI | 1824 | Episcopal | Oldest Episcopal congregation in Michigan (present building from 1907) |
First Baptist Church in Canton Illinois was established in 1830, and still exist today celebrating there 190th anniversary in 2023.
LaMarsh Baptist church Mapleton, Il was established in 1838 in a barn until the church was built later that year (or following year). The church added a basement in the 1950s, and added the new church in 1997 (keeping the old church in its location). In October 2023 they celebrated their 185rd Anniversary, being the 6th oldest church in Illinois, 49th oldest in the United States and the 224th oldest in the world.[citation needed]
Shield Chapel Methodist Church was established and built in Canton, Illinois, in 1840 and still exists today, 181 years later.
Wesley United Methodist Church was established and built in Canton, IL in 1895. It is still in operation today both in its oldest church and second building across the street.
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