List of the oldest buildings in Pennsylvania


This article lists the oldest extant buildings in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States, including the oldest houses in the state and certain other extant structures. Some dates are approximate, based upon dendrochronology, architectural studies, and historical records. Sites on the list are generally from the First Period of American architecture or earlier.
All listed sites either date from prior to 1776, or are the oldest building in their county or large city, or are the oldest of their type.
NameImageLocationYearTypeNotes
Lower Swedish CabinUpper Darby, Drexel HillCabinPossibly oldest log cabin or wooden house in Pennsylvania
Boelson CottagePhiladelphia, Fairmount ParkHouseOldest structure in Fairmount Park; possibly the oldest extant house in Philadelphia
Wall HouseElkins Park1682HouseOldest house in Pennsylvania which has had continuous family residency; possibly the oldest stone house in Pennsylvania
Caleb Pusey HouseUpland1683HouseOldest English-built house in Pennsylvania; only extant building known to have been visited by William Penn
Hop Angel BrauhausPhiladelphia, Fox Chase1683RestaurantGerman-American fare; built in 1683 and a restaurant since the mid-20th century; formerly, the Old Brauhaus, the Blue Ox Brauhaus, and the Blue Ox Bistro
Pont ReadingArdmore1683House-
Sellers HallUpper Darby1684HouseOriginally home to the Sellers family, including John Sellers, a scientist and founding member of the American Philosophical Society.
Growden MansionBensalem Township1685House
William Smith HouseWrightstown1686House
Sign of the Bird in Hand
Newtown1686TavernOriginally a residence, then a tavern with other uses; oldest extant frame house in Pennsylvania; site of the 1778 Newtown Skirmish during which Loyalists killed five and captured 16 to acquire cloth being manufactured for use by Washington's troops at Valley Forge; now a private residence
Phineas Pemberton HouseBristol Township1687House
WynnestayPhiladelphia, Wynnefield1689HouseOne of the oldest houses in Philadelphia
Farmar MillFort Washington1690MillHistoric mill building; original terminus for Skippack Pike
Thomas Massey HouseBroomall1696, later additionsHouseOne of the oldest English Quaker houses in the state
Morton HomesteadProspect Park, later additionsHouseFarm founded in 1654
Edward Morgan Log HouseTowamencin1700HouseHome to the maternal grandfather of Daniel Boone
Gloria Dei
Philadelphia, Southwark1700ReligiousOldest surviving church in Philadelphia
Wolley StilleWallingford1700House
Langhorne HotelLanghorneTavernBuilt by William Huddleston; originally known as the Tavern at Attleboro, until the village was renamed for Jeremiah Langhorne in 1876
Brinton 1704 HouseWest Chester1704HouseOne of the oldest houses in Pennsylvania
Rittenhouse HomesteadPhiladelphia, Wissahickon Valley Park1707HouseHome of William Rittenhouse, the first paper maker in British North America; built by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas in 1707; birthplace of David Rittenhouse
Old Trinity ChurchPhiladelphia, Oxford Circle1711ReligiousChurch of England services first held on this site in 1698 in a log meeting house that had belonged to the Oxford Society of Friends.
Merion Friends Meeting HouseMerion StationReligiousOne of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in America
Newtown Square Friends Meeting HouseNewtown Township, Delaware County1711ReligiousEarly Welsh Quaker settlers in one of William Penn's two planned "new towns" built this meeting house in 1711.
Hans Herr HouseWillow Street1719HouseOldest house in Lancaster County; oldest surviving structure used as a Mennonite meetinghouse in America
Elfreth's AlleyPhiladelphia, Old City1720–1830HousesClaimed to be the nation's oldest residential street; two rows of Federal and Georgian brick houses built between 1720 and 1830, with a total of 32 extant houses
Wyck HousePhiladelphia, Germantown, later additionsHouse
StentonPhiladelphia, Germantown1723HouseHome of James Logan, secretary of William Penn
Old Chester CourthouseChester1724GovernmentThe oldest public building in continuous use in the United States; served as a courthouse from 1724 until 1851, and the town hall until the 1960s; now used for miscellaneous city, county and civic functions
Christian Beidler's Grist MillBerks County1729–1738MillBuilt during the reign of George II of Great Britain, Christian Beidler's grist mill is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the United States, dating from before the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Michael Billmeyer HousePhiladelphia, Germantown1730House
Quaker Mill House
Goldsboro1731HouseOne of the oldest houses in central Pennsylvania
Bartram's GardenPhiladelphia, Kingsessing1731HouseThe home of John Bartram, America's first botanist and father of William Bartram, himself an eminent botanist and artist
Ephrata CloisterEphrata1732ReligiousEstablished in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel; one of the oldest religious communities in the United States; had the second German printing press in the American colonies which published the largest book by page count in the colonies, Martyrs Mirror
Shelter HouseEmmausHouseLongest site of continuous habitation in the Lehigh Valley area
Old Norriton Presbyterian ChurchEast Norriton Township1737ReligiousCongregation practicing in vicinity since 1698.
Warwick MansionEast Norriton Township1738HouseHistorical house owned by the local Irons works owner and a United States Army officer Samuel Van Leer. The location is listed as a temporary George Washington Headquarter.
Augustus Lutheran ChurchTrappe1743ReligiousOldest unchanged Lutheran church building in the United States in continuous use by the same congregation
GrumblethorpePhiladelphia, Germantown1744House
Belmont MansionPhiladelphia, Fairmount Park1745House
Van Leer CabinTredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania1759CabinHistoric cabin and one of the last historical dwellings in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Germantown White HousePhiladelphia, Germantown1752HouseTwice served as temporary residence of George Washington during his presidency
Old Germantown Academy and Headmasters' HousesPhiladelphia, Germantown1760School
ClivedenPhiladelphia, Germantown1763HouseHome of Benjamin Chew and scene of fighting during the Battle of Germantown
Fort Pitt BlockhousePittsburgh1764DefenseOldest structure in Pittsburgh and one of the oldest colonial structures west of the Allegheny Mountains
Harris Cameron MansionHarrisburg1765House
Chichester Friends MeetinghouseUpper Chichester Township1769ReligiousQuaker meeting house first built in 1688; rebuilt after a fire in 1769.
SummerseatMorrisvilleHouseOnly house in America owned by two signers of the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence, Robert Morris and George Clymer; headquarters of George Washington while he plotted the Battle of Trenton
Wyckoff-Mason HouseVerona1774House-
Concord School HousePhiladelphia, Germantown1775School
Van Leer Pleasant Hill PlantationWest Nantmeal Township, PennsylvaniaHouseHistoric stone farmhouse located near Glen Moore in West Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Tomlinson-Huddleston House
Langhorne1783House
Denison HouseForty Fort1790HouseOldest house in Luzerne County
Headhouse at New MarketPhiladelphia, Society Hill1804FirehouseOldest firehouse in the United States
Dickson TavernErie1815CommercialOldest building in Erie
Academy HallEdinboro1857SchoolOldest normal school building in Pennsylvania; on the Edinboro University campus
Sturgis Pretzel HouseLititz1861CommercialOldest commercial pretzel bakery in the United States