List of the oldest buildings in Illinois

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists the oldest extant buildings in Illinois, including extant buildings and structures constructed prior to and during the United States rule over Illinois. Only buildings built prior to 1830 are suitable for inclusion on this list, or the building must be the oldest of its type.

In order to qualify for the list, a structure must:

  • be a recognizable building (defined as any human-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy);
  • incorporate features of building work from the claimed date to at least 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height and/or be a listed building.

This consciously excludes ruins of limited height, roads and statues. Bridges may be included if they otherwise fulfill the above criteria. Dates for many of the oldest structures have been arrived at by radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology and should be considered approximate. If the exact year of initial construction is estimated, it will be shown as a range of dates.

List of oldest buildings[edit]

Building Image Location First built Use Notes
Old Cahokia Courthouse Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1737 Residence/Courthouse Oldest building in Illinois. French Canadian Court House[1]
Fort de Chartres Powder Magazine Randolph County, Illinois c. 1750 Military Oldest stone building in Illinois; French military fortification
Church of the Holy Family (Cahokia Heights, Illinois) Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1786-1799 Church French Canadian church[2]
Martin–Boismenue House East Carondelet 1790 Residential One of the oldest surviving French Colonial structures in Illinois.
Creole House Prairie du Rocher, Illinois c. 1800 Residence One of the oldest surviving French colonial homes in Prairie du Rocher.
Pierre Menard Home near Kaskaskia, Illinois c. 1802 Residence Oldest former home of a former state government official (Pierre Menard) standing in the state
Kirkpatrick House Edwardsville, Illinois 1805 Residence Oldest house in Edwardsville and Madison County which was built by the founder of Edwardsville Thomas Kirkpatrick[3]
Nicholas Jarrot Mansion Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1807–1810 Residence French trapper's Federal style house[4]
James Lemen House New Design, Illinois c. 1810 Residence Oldest brick house in Monroe County and only surviving building from the New Design settlement[5]
Rose Hotel Elizabethtown, Illinois 1812 Hotel Oldest hotel in the state
Robinson-Stewart House Carmi, Illinois 1814 Residence Oldest building in Carmi
Daniel Tolman House Edwardsville, Illinois 1819 Residence Second oldest building in Edwardsville[6]
Benjamin Stephenson House Edwardsville, Illinois 1820 Residence Home of territorial Illinois delegate Benjamin Stephenson
Black Homestead Farm Greene County, Illinois 1821 Residence Oldest standing house in Greene County
Clayville Tavern Clayville, Illinois 1824 Tavern Tavern built by John Broadwell
Dowling House Galena, Illinois 1826-27 Residence Oldest building in Galena
Ratcliff Inn Carmi, Illinois 1828 Residence Built for Carmi founder James Ratcliff
Hodges House Carrollton, Illinois 1829 Residence Oldest house in Carrollton
John Patton Log Cabin Lexington, Illinois 1829 Residence One of the oldest buildings in McLean County, Illinois
Beecher Hall Jacksonville, Illinois 1829-1830 College Building Oldest college building in Illinois and the first built in the state
Mermaid House Hotel Lebanon, Illinois 1830 Hotel Built by Lyman Adams. Visited by Charles Dickens in 1842.
Noble–Seymour–Crippen House Chicago, Illinois 1833 Residence The oldest building in Chicago
Vandalia State House Vandalia, Illinois 1836 Capitol Building Oldest state capitol building in Illinois
Old St. Patrick's Church Chicago 1854 Church Oldest surviving church in Chicago
University Hall Evanston 1869 College building Oldest building on the campus of Northwestern University
Delaware Building Chicago 1872 Commercial
Berghoff Buildings Chicago 1872 Commercial Three buildings currently occupied by the Berghoff restaurant
Page Brothers Building Chicago 1872 Commercial The building features Chicago's last remaining cast iron façade
Harker Hall Urbana 1877 College building Oldest building in use on the campus of the University of Illinois
Manhattan Building
Chicago 1889–1891 Commercial Oldest surviving skyscraper in the world. Currently residential condominiums.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Doors close at Dana-Thomas House". Springfield, Ill. State Journal-Register. December 1, 2008.
  2. ^ Green, Susan. Great Historic Places. Simon & Schuster, 1980
  3. ^ "Kirkpatrick House". www.idaillinois.org. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "NHL nomination for Nicholas Jarrot Mansion". National Park Service. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "James Lemen House, State Highway 3, Waterloo, Monroe County, IL". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "The Tolman, Bowers, and Todd Building – Madison Historical". Retrieved January 26, 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_the_oldest_buildings_in_Illinois&oldid=1199122747"