List of the oldest buildings in North Carolina
This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings surviving in the state of North Carolina in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in North Carolina and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based upon dendochronology, 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:
- date from prior to 1776; or
- be the oldest building in a county, large city, or oldest of its type,
Building | Image | Location | First Built | Use | Notes |
Lane House | Edenton | 1718–19 | House | Oldest house in North Carolina identified by dendrochronology; One-and-a-half stories; located in the Edenton National Register Historic District; Owned by Steve and Linda Lane. | |
Sloop Point | Pender County | 1726 | House | Resembles Caribbean architecture | |
Newbold-White House | Hertford | 1730 | House | Oldest brick house in North Carolina.National Register of Historic Places, 1971. | |
Myers-White House | Hertford | 1730 | House | National Register of Historic Places, 1971. | |
St. Thomas Episcopal Church | Bath | 1734 | Religious | Oldest surviving church building in North Carolina. | |
Orton Plantation Main House | Winnabow | 1735 | House | ||
St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Churchyard | Edenton | 1736 | Church | National Register of Historic Places, 1975. | |
Mitchell-Anderson House | Wilmington | ca. 1740 | House | One of the oldest houses in Wilmington. | |
Woodleys Manor | Pasquotank County | ca. 1740 | House | Oldest house in Pasquotank County, oldest side-hall plan in North Carolina, and earliest known Carolina plan. | |
Palmer-Marsh House | Bath | 1744 | House | National Historic Landmark. | |
Milford | Camden County | 1746 | House | Oldest two-story brick house in North Carolina. National Register of Historic Places, 1972. | |
Old Brick House | Pasquotank County | ca. 1750 | House | National Register of Historic Places, 1972. | |
Hammock House | Beaufort | ca. 1700–1750 | House | Purportedly oldest house in Beaufort, NC, also known as "Blackbeard's House," some sources claim it was built between 1700–1709, based upon a carved timber in the house. | |
Dr. Robertson House | Alamance County | ca. 1750 | House | Alamance County Architectural Inventory, 2014. | |
Cupola House | Edenton | 1758 | House | National Register of Historic Places, 1970. | |
The Owens House | Halifax | 1760 | House | Entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, this gambrel-roofed home of a merchant was built about 1760. It was named for George Owens and is the oldest structure of the Historic Halifax State Historic Site. | |
Joel Lane House | Raleigh | ca. 1760–1770 | House | Oldest house in Raleigh | |
DuBoise-Boatwright House | Wilmington | 1765 | House | One of the oldest houses in Wilmington. | |
Michael Braun House | Granite Quarry | 1766 | House | Also called Old Stone House. Oldest building in Rowan County. | |
Chowan County Courthouse | Edenton | 1767 | Courthouse | Oldest courthouse in North Carolina. National Register of Historic Places, 1970. | |
St. Philip's Church Ruins | Brunswick Town | 1768 | Church | ||
Single Brothers' House | Winston-Salem | 1769 | House | Part of Moravian settlement. | |
Burgwin-Wright House | Wilmington | 1770 | House | One of the oldest houses in Wilmington. | |
Hugh Torrance House and Store | Huntersville | ca. 1770 | Store and House | The oldest standing store in North Carolina, and oldest surviving structures in Mecklenburg County. | |
Patrick Gordon House | New Bern | 1771 | House | National Register, Oldest substantially unaltered house in New Bern. | |
House in the Horseshoe | Carthage | 1772 | House | Historic battle site between American Revolution loyalists and patriots. | |
Nash-Hooper House | Hillsborough | 1772 | House | National Historic Landmark, home to signatory of the Declaration of Independence. | |
Hezekiah Alexander House | Charlotte | 1774 | House | Oldest building in Charlotte. Part of the National Register of Historic Places | |
Robert Cleveland Log House | Wilkesboro | 1780 | House | Oldest house in Wilkes County. | |
Alexander Long plantation house | North of Spencer, North Carolina | 1783 | House | Oldest inhabited home in Rowan County | |
Salem Tavern | Winston-Salem | 1784 | Tavern | The Tavern was the lodgings for George Washington for two nights during his Southern Tour in 1791. | |
Cool Spring Place | Fayetteville | 1788 | Tavern | Oldest building in Fayetteville. | |
St. Philips Moravian Church | Winston-Salem | 1861 | Church | Oldest African American Church building in North Carolina. | |
Temple of Israel | Wilmington | 1876 | Synagogue | Oldest Jewish synagogue in North Carolina. |