What Is The Oldest City In Each US State?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
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▶ In this video, I explore the oldest cities in each U.S. state, providing historical information about their establishment, founders, and significant events. The journey begins with Saint Augustine in Florida, settled by the Spanish in 1565, and continues chronologically through each state. I cover a range of historical backgrounds, from Spanish colonization in places like Santa Fe, New Mexico, and San Diego, California, to the establishment of Plymouth, Massachusetts, by the Pilgrims in 1620. I emphasize the diversity of origins, including Dutch, French, and English settlers, as well as interactions with Native American tribes. The exploration concludes with Cheyenne, Wyoming, founded in 1867 with the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad. I acknowledge the varying sizes and modern relevance of these cities, inviting viewers to share their experiences or correct any information presented.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
01:40 Florida (St. Augustine)
02:32 New Mexico (Santa Fe)
03:08 Massachusetts (Plymouth)
03:40 Maine (Kittery)
05:13 New Hampshire (Dover)
05:41 New York (Albany)
06:12 Delaware (Lewes)
06:46 Virginia (Williamsburg)
07:10 Connecticut (Windsor)
07:27 Wisconsin (Green Bay)
07:46 Rhode Island (Providence)
08:10 Michigan (Sault Ste. Marie)
08:49 Maryland (Annapolis)
09:12 New Jersey (Jersey City)
09:36 South Carolina (Charleston)
09:53 Illinois (Peoria)
10:08 Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
10:22 Alabama (Mobile)
10:41 North Carolina (Bath)
11:00 Louisiana (Natchitoches)
11:15 Mississippi (Natchez)
11:34 Indiana (Vinecennes)
12:07 Georgia (Savannah)
12:32 Vermont (Westminster)
12:45 Missouri (Saint Genevieve)
12:58 South Dakota (Fort Pierre)
13:13 West Virginia (Shepherdstown)
13:36 California (San Diego)
13:57 Kentucky (Harrodsburg)
14:14 Arizona (Tucson)
14:35 Tennessee (Jonesborough)
14:58 Texas (Nacogdoches)
15:38 Ohio (Marietta)
16:00 Arkansas (Georgetown)
16:23 Alaska (Kodiak)
16:41 North Dakota (Pembina)
17:04 Oregon (Astoria)
17:28 Hawaii (Hilo)
17:47 Nebraska (Bellevue)
18:06 Oklahoma (Fort Gibson)
18:30 Minnesota (Wabasha)
18:44 Kansas (Leavensworth)
18:56 Iowa (Dubuque)
19:15 Montana (Stetensville)
19:34 Colorado (San Luis)
19:45 Nevada (Genoa)
20:15 Utah (Ogden)
20:35 Washington (Steilacoom)
21:09 Idaho (Franklin)
21:22 Wyoming (Cheyenne)
21:50 Summary
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*I myself am a little skeptical about some of the ones on this list, but according to its makers it's correct! Do you notice any mistakes / have any corrections? Let me know!*
Idk about this stuff too much as a Pole, but I'm very glad that I was guessing whether Idaho or Wyoming from the beginning
Omaha is not the capital of Nebraska. And while you are good with the original French and Spanish pronunciations (because, duh, Portuguese) a lot of them have been Anglicized (Manglicized?) by the residents over the years. Moh BEEL, duh BYOOK, and SOO saint ma REE are examples. And you definitely get a pass on NAK uh tish and STEL la cum. Those are unintuitive in ANY Indo European language.
You meant "In Each OUR State"?
On my part, I'm just wondering why, for example :
-In Maine, Castine (founded by the French) is not considered the oldest city there ;
-In Mississippi, Ocean Springs aka Old Biloxi aka Fort Maurepas (still by the French) is not considered the oldest city there ;
-In Minnesota, Grand Portage or Grand Marais (founded by you guessed who) are neither considered ...
From my quick researches, these examples appeared as older permanent continuous settlements than the ones mentionned in your video 🤨
You are showing a picture of John Jacob Astor IV, rather than John Jacob Astor I.
It's a slight thing but something I want to point out. Mobile, Alabama isn't pronounced mobile, as movement. But it is pronounced "Mo-beel"
I am glad that you mentioned this. I was coming here to do the same thing. I always laugh how it is pronounced wrong.
Lots of mispronunciations but those are tough. There are SO many places that you don't learn the correct way until you travel there or meet someone from there. Bexar (Bear) county in Texas. As a teacher, Des Moines is a fun one to explain as well as Kansas vs Arkansas@@Silverado138
I wonder if it ever was said how it’s spelt. Like did the accent change the way the word is said or something else
He butchered a lot of these cities names. Great information but probably should look at the pronunciation of these cities. Still a great video!!!
@@jenniferferguson1517 I listed all his funny mispronunciations...couldn't help myself. I am an English teacher
Presidio, Texas was founded in 1535, and still exists today, which is 181 years before Nacogdoches was founded.
I just looked it up and 3 different websites gave me 3 different answers... El Paso, Nacogdoches and Presidio
Presidio wasn’t called presidio until 1830 Nacogdoches was always called Nacogdoches by DeSoto in 1525 even tho the mission was built until later the Indians called it a Nacogdoches long before the white man came.. across from Natchitoches oldest city in in Louisiana also a Native American crossroad.. Caddo Indians used to travel all over La and Texas they were the descendants from the mound builders do you know the ones from 10,000 bc
@@SweetTexasGalyeah personally I remember being taught El Paso being the oldest (Corpus Christi de la Isleta Mission being established 1682)
Actually, The area has been continuously inhabited since 1200 c.e. by the La Junta Indians.
@@cr33d4 If we used that logic, many of these would be extremely hard to count. Also, I believe he’s only talking about 100% confirmed oldest citites and ones who were actually incorporated at the date which he spoke of.
On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish La Florida. As soon as they were ashore, the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving.
I watched a PBS documentary a while back about Spanish Florida. I didn't know that when the American Revolution broke out there were 15 British colonies. Florida and West Florida were given to Spain as a thank you bc they remained loyalist. I'm still picking up pieces of my mind from that.
Cool
FLORIDA FTW💪
@@michaelhowell2326 The Floridas were given to Spain not as thank yous, but but because the Spanish had conquered most of the area. The governor of Spanish Louisiana, Galvez, took Baton Rouge in 1779, Mobile in 1780, and Pensacola in 1781. By the time the war ended, only St Augustine still remained in British hands, and they just gave up the Floridas as a lost cause and ceded them back to Spain.
@@michaelhowell2326Is it 15? As a Canadian, I count 16 😂
Not a European settlement, but in NM the Acoma Pueblo located nearly 100 km west of Albuquerque is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the US as the Acoma built the Acoma Pueblo around 1144! The Taos Pueblo also in NM was built around 1450! Both New Mexico's current and original capitol buildings in Santa Fe are unique too! Its original capitol building is the Palace of the Governors which was built in 1610 for the then capital of the Spanish province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. The Palace changed hands as the territory of New Mexico did, seeing the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Spanish return from 1693 to 1694, Mexican independence in 1821, and American territorial status in 1848. It remained the New Mexico seat of government until 1901! NM was granted statehood in 1912. The current capitol building was built in the 1960s and is unique in that it's the only circular capitol building and one of the only ones without a dome!
New Mexico's capitol was designed to resemble the Zia sun symbol on the NM flag when viewed from above. The Zia sun symbol is sacred to the Zia people. It's painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. According to Zia belief, the number four is embodied in the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day, the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age), and the four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others).
I came to ask the same question. But I only knew about Taos. Thanks for sharing more info!
Thank you. The video title doesn't say oldest EUROPEAN city in each state! It just says oldest city! Now, depending on who you talk to, both Taos and Sky City are pushing 1000 years old and they have been never been abandoned, conquered or otherwise uninhabited since their founding. The fact that the creator of this video either doesn't consider them valid to be counted as first is just one tiny sign of the racism and ignorance that are still a part of Native people's lives in the 21st century. Who cares what European was the first to see or live in a particular place? You don't see us keeping careful lists of the Native people that were the first to visit London or Paris as the people that "discovered" those places. The arrogance is unbelievable.
The clue is in the names of the tribes/nations: PUEBLO
Thanks supreme leader Kim Jong Un
Tucson, AZ has also been continuously inhabited since around 1300 AD. First by the Hohokam/Tohono O'odam and later by the Spanish.
Acoma Pueblo is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in USA, having been inhabited by the Pueblo since around the 11th or 13th century. That and many other native settlements deserve a mention
And many of them are much larger than some settlements on this list. Acoma Pueblo has a population of 4,989 and Taos Pueblo has a population of 4,500.
Presidio Texas has been continuously farmed since 1500 BC. Native settlements should not be discounted in a list like this.
@@lbec9487 Farming wasn't taken up in the area until 1200 CE and it was still the Pueblo either way
Pensacola was actually the first city in the US, 6 years before St. Augustine. There was a just a hurricane that destroyed the city and it had to be rebuilt
It was abandoned in 1561 and re-settled in 1698. The 137 years gap does not count as "continuously inhabited"
I believe the title of video says oldest city not oldest continuously occupied city.
Recent excavations have shown that the site of Pensacola settled by the Spanish after moving off the barrier island is next to Pensacola’s present downtown
@@patrickreilly6924He explained that the list was for continuously inhabited cities.
Pepsicola is in the western extreme of Florida
There are Native American cities that are much older (around 1100 CE). This video is apparently cities settled by Europeans.
Just a heads up that Hampton, Virginia claims to have been founded in 1610 and have been permanently settled since that time. Things seem to stack up here as the town is still very much a going concern. This would put VA #3!
Jamestown, VA was initially established in 1607. There was a very brief abandonment of the settlement in 1610 after which the settlement at Jamestown was permanent.
@@awakely451548, it was initially a Spanish settlement, the only survivor was my ancestor Alonso de Olmos.
Arizona's oldest city is Oraibi, founded in 1100 AD, making it probably the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the US, along with Pueblo de Taos, NM.
1100? Thats a bit older then the church in my village and the house my dad grew up in. Which was then destroyed because of a road expansion.
I thought Acoma Pueblo (Sky City) was the oldest community in continuous habitation in the US
@@macnichols7180 I was always told Acoma Pueblo was as well. There are differing dates given for its founding though. A quick search is showing claims from the 10th-13th century. I think it is technically possible that Oraibi is older, but more likely that Acoma is oldest.
Oraibi, Arzona, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and Childersburg, Alabama, all are continuously inhabited places for which we have good evidence that their founding pre-date the founding of St. Augustine. Whether Oraibi, Acoma, or Taos is the oldest, depends on which sort of evidence you are going to accept, and the latest research results. With conservative etimates, Oraibi has date of 1100 attached. The sky city in Acoma has a date of 1144, but the settlement as as a whole may be much older, though we haven't found the evidence to put a date on (yet).
I want to believe city is meant to meet the US census definition of population size vs settlement or township/village/burg/etc. wouldn’t Third Mesa be considered older than Oraibi? This video has several errors anyway. New Orleans was established in 1708 anyway.
San Antonio, TX was founded in 1718 as "Villa de Bejar". El Paso, TX was founded in 1659. Nacogdoches is the fifth oldest city in the state.
Well nac is sure claiming that 😂. Someone is definitely wrong lol.
Thank you, glad someone pointed it out as I am myself from San Antonio.
@@Chase0370it’s Nacogdoches. They might be claiming the oldest white majority settlement, but they’re not the oldest town by a long shot.
@@chriscypert8616Presidio is 10,000 years old if going by native settlement. Native or European, either way, Nacogdoches is not the oldest since Presidio was also settled by Europeans in 1582.
LOL. How many native Mexicans lived in Texas the day the Alamo fell?
I love how much the Great Lakes made the Midwest accessible for settlements much earlier than even some costal states.
Yes. Most early exploration was by boat.
It was the main highway in to the interior, as well the th3 Mississippi and other major rivers.❤
No surprise considering the Pacific coastal states.
Omaha was never the state capitol of Nebraska. It was only the territorial capitol
I am from Louisiana and live on the border of Texas. I can help with the pronunciation of Natchitoches and Nacogdoches. As many people where I'm from often get these 2 towns confused.
Natchitoches:
Nac-ah-tish
(Tish as in dish)
Nacogdoches:
Nac-ah-doe-sh-is
Hope this helps 😊
Tbh, as someone who's half Cajun (but grew up in the northeast), Southern Louisiana and nearby areas have some of the most mystifying pronunciations in the entire country, to people who aren't from there. I expect people to mispronounce them. It's like the area is one giant shibboleth.
As someone who lives in Nacogdoches, it's "ch" not "sh"
Most of these places are mispronounced but i'm assuming this guy isn't american
@@Andrew-nb6peyeah he’s Portuguese, i was expecting the mispronunciation of Natchitoches. I wanna see him try some other Louisiana towns like Gueydan (Gay-dohn) or Delcambre (Del-cum)
Nag ah dish is better I'm from there that's how we pronounce it
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was named by Will Penn but not named *after* him. The name Philadelphia comes from the Greek term for “brotherly love” and commemorates a friendship Penn had formed with a native tribal chief.
It's also the original name of Alaşehir, Turkey of biblical fame.
Pennsylvania though, is named after Penn. It means Penn's forest.
it's also not the oldest city in pa
@@JamieElliPennsylvania was named in honor of William Penn’s father, Admiral William Penn, who was owed a large sum by Britain.
Great video as always. Just a few notes: Mobile (mo'-beel), Alabama was founded around 1701 to 1703 and moved from its original location in a swamp because of a yellow fever epidemic to a locale several miles away in 1711. Biloxi, Mississippi was originally founded in 1699 by the same French pioneers but habitation was not continuous. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville is accredited with founding Mobile, Biloxi, and New Orleans all before 1720.
Is it called Mobile because they moved it, so the city was Litteraly mobile? 😂
Wrong again. "mo BEEL", emphasis on the second syllable.
Mo-beel’ , not a mobil.
That would be really cool but not accurate. The accent is on the second syllable and the name derives from the title of a local native tribal name for an encampment they called "Mabila". @@Polska_Edits
@@Polska_Editsking louis the 14 hated the name, Beinville, the founder of New Orleans considered renaming the city’s name to immobile because of it
Cheyenne maybe the oldest "city" in Wyoming because we don't really have cities. The oldest settlement in Wyoming is fort Laramie. It was a fur trapping post first long. Long before anything else in Wyoming.
Exactly. I was going to say Laramie Wyoming was older if we take into consideration the Oregon Trail period
St. Mary's City is Maryland's oldest city, being founded in 1634.
Fun fact! I'm actually FROM Windsor, CT, and there's an interesting local controversy about this. Another nearby town, Wethersfield, also claims to be the first town in the state.
In a nutshell, the argument is that a trading post in Windsor was established in 1663, however, it was not an actual "town" until sometime later, while Wethersfield was a more formal town established thr next year in 1634.
Used to work in Windsor
I taught at Suffield Academy! Always took the train out of Windsor!
My sister in law used to live in a house that the town line of S Windsor and Enfield went right through her house.
I'm from Wethersfield, and both towns are wrong. Fort de Goede Hoop was the first European settlement in CT, which is now Hartford. It was built in 1933, months before Windsor became an English settlement (this video got the year wrong). Unsure why nobody recognizes that. The English built Hartford right next to it, and took it when the Dutch left.
@@jimcase6950 My wife and I were just looking at a map that showed all the dates when towns were established in Ct. I was raised in a town incorporated in 1700 where the first governor was from. My wife is from a town incorporated in 1749 but had a road house there in 1648. We don’t live anywhere near there anymore.
8:11 Sault Sainte Marie is pronounced as "soo saint marie". One of the nicknames of the city and area is "The Soo", and "Soo Michigan" to differentiate it from "Soo Canada" aka "Soo Ontario". The Michigan city, although smaller, is the older of the two Soos.
6:56 Peoria is pronounced as "pee-or-ee-ah".
12:48 Sainte Genevieve is pronounced as "saint gen-ee-veev".
16:42 Pembina is pronounced as "pem-beye-nah".
18:32 Wabasha is pronounced as "wah-bah-shah". Close though on your pronunciation.
18:57 Dubuque is pronounced as "duh-bweuk"
Thanks! It wouldn't be a General Knowledge video if I didn't mispronunciate half the words
yeah was gonna say since Wabasha was like 15 minutes south of where I grew up lol.
I've been to Sault St. Marie, Michigan, and Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Went through the Soo Locks when I was there also. A neat town with a museum ship devoted to the Great Lakes freighters that go through the area.
It's PEM bin uh
I knew it was either sault saint marie or st ignace for michigan, just wasnt 100% confident either way. I remember learning about the early pre state history while in school.
Hi. G.K. I'm ANOTHER RESIDENT OF HAMPTON VIRGINIA that you left off the list that was established in 1610! Jamestown est. 1607 didn't last long and is now an archeology site. you missed that one too!
You mean the mayflower wasn't first. Yankees are good liars.
Its not that we're good liars. Its that we're bad historians.@@thomaswayneward
More specifically, Kittery was named after Alexander Shapleigh's manor of Kittery Court at Kingswear in Devon, England. During the Revolution, the first vessels of the US Navy were constructed on Badger's Island, including the USS Ranger (1777) commanded by John Paul Jones. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the nation's first federal navy yard, was established in 1800 on Fernald's Island. During the time Kittery was founded, it was part of the Province of Maine however during the 1650s, the Province of Maine was actually incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony by force because of a 1652 geographic survey that showed an overlapping patent! Maine was confirmed as part of Massachusetts following the Treaty of Paris.
Because Maine was of course physically separate from the rest of Massachusetts, longstanding disagreements over land speculation and settlements led to forcing an 1807 vote in the Massachusetts Assembly on permitting Maine to secede but the vote failed. Secessionist sentiment in Maine was stoked during the War of 1812 when Massachusetts pro-British merchants opposed the war and refused to defend Maine from British invaders. In 1819, Massachusetts agreed to permit secession. Formal secession from MA and admission of Maine as the 23rd state occurred in March 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise.
OMG this is an awesome comment. Being from the Kittery area (just over the border in NH), and a descendant of Alexander Shapleigh, I ate this info UP. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I used to live in Jersey City! So the first European settlement in what's now Jersey City was actually founded a bit earlier in 1630. When the Dutch purchased land from the Lenape in November 1630 and settled what's now downtown Jersey City, they named it Pavonia. This name is the Latinized form of Pauw from Michael Reyniersz Pauw who received a land grant from the Dutch West India Company on the condition that he would establish a settlement of not fewer than fifty persons within four years, and he opted to select the west side of the Hudson. In Dutch, Pauw means peacock! Pauw however was quite neglectful and sold his holdings back to the company in 1633. 1660 refers to the village of Bergen which was founded in what's now Bergen Square and chartered in 1661.
The oldest surviving houses in Jersey City are of Dutch origin, including the Newkirk House from 1690 on Summit Ave, the Van Vorst Farmhouse from 1740 on Palisade Ave, and the Van Wagenen House in Bergen Square also from 1740. The building to the left of the Jersey City illustration is the Communipaw Terminal in what's now Liberty State Park. The terminal was built in the late 1880s alongside the now demolished Pavonia Terminal and Exchange Place terminal (the terminals are gone, but the PATH stations built to serve them remain) to serve NYC via ferries from the train terminals. Tens of millions of immigrants passed through these stations as they made their way across the country from Ellis Island, and today, Communipaw Terminal serves as the NJ departure point for ferries to Ellis Island and Liberty Island!
Ok….as I Jersey City resident, I have a question….is Bergen Square, McGinley Square or Journal Square….now I understand why St. Peter’s University is the Peacock’s, and I now understand how Communipaw Ave got its name
What about Paulus Hook?
@@fojr0324 Paulus Hook was part of the tract for Pavonia in 1630, and Paulus Hook was settled in 1633.
Roger Williams founded Providence Plantations in 1636 like you said though interestingly enough, he wasn't the first European to settle Rhode Island! William Blaxton was! William Blaxton has quite the tale to tell. Blaxton joined the failed Ferdinando Gorges expedition in 1623. He eventually arrived in Weymouth, MA later in 1623 on the ship Katherine. By 1625, all of his fellow travelers had returned to England and Blaxton moved five miles north to a rocky bulge at the end of a swampy isthmus, surrounded on all sides by mudflats. Blaxton became the first colonist to settle in what would become Boston, living on the western end of the Shawmut Peninsula by himself for more than five years.
Of the land he owned, Blaxton sold all but six acres back to the Puritans in 1634. Governor Winthrop purchased the land through a one-time tax on Boston residents. This land became a town commons open to public grazing and now forms the bulk of Boston Common. The Anglican Blaxton did not get along with the Puritan leaders of the Boston church and in 1635 he moved about 35 miles/56 km south of Boston to what is today known as the Blackstone River in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Thus, not only was he the first European to settle Boston, but also the first to settle Rhode Island by beating Roger Williams by one year!
Omaha isn't the state capitol of Nebraska, Lincoln is. Also Bellevue is essentially a suburb of Omaha now. Its one of a group of towns around the city that are part of the "Metro".
Omaha was the territorial capital, that's what Bellevue wanted initially but it became Lincoln with statehood
A quick pronunciation correction for Vincennes, Ind. I grew up a 30 minute drive from it. They don't use the French pronunciation. It's pronounced "Vin-senns" by people in the area. And yes, we mangled the original pronunciation. Same with a nearby county named DuBois but pronounced ""Do-boys"
Don’t you LOVE being a Hoosier!?! ❤. Don’t even want to mention the town of VERSAILLES… LOL!!
I would like to learn more about DuBois county. It is a German populated county with a French name correct?
@@timemmons7821 yeah. Lots of German influence in the culture and history. German was even spoken as a common language. It's more diverse now, but the influence is still there
Correction: Childersburg, Alabama beat Mobile by around 160 years, it wasn’t incorporated until 1889, but settlements of that area date to the 1540s, as a town under the Coosa tribe
As a native Alabamian, you are correct. So few people know this.
I've just looked at the town's website and how they tout themselves as the "oldest continuously occupied town in the United States", but even from the way they describe it, it seems like quite a reach. Besides, pueblos like Acoma and Taos would have it long beat, and they really are continuously inhabited.
This should be retitled "The Oldest Cities settled by Europeans in Each US State."
I think it's notable to mention that there were many cities and permanent settlements in what is today the US that existed in prehistoric times up until the upheaval of the Columbian exchange. ie, Cahokia
In Arizona and New Mexico some of these settlements still exist and are inhabited to this day. He ignores native settlements.
For Delaware, it is pronounced "LOO - IS", like Lewis the name. A lot of people mistakenly call it "Lous", It's a great way to tell the tourists from NJ lol.
Or anyone with a passing knowledge of Welsh.
Is Delaware even a state or a rest stop between Maryland and Pennsylvania?
@@dougadkins7006 it's Pennsylvania's lost sea access
Delaware was created by the credit card companies to incorporate in. It has no other reason to exist.
LEWES is pronounced Lewes; if only in the Kent's coast
West Virginia's oldest town is disputed between Shepherdstown and Romney. I believe they were actually chartered at the same time, but don't tell them that lol
I went to college in Shepherdstown for 4 years, it's very beautiful and a great place to visit! It's also a very short drive from a bunch of other great historic sites including Harpers Ferry and Antietam Battlefield.
The city of Mobile in Alabama is typically pronounced as "moh-beel," with the emphasis on the first syllable.
A native Alabamian here, you are correct. It is also one of the USA's oldest port cities along with Gloucester and St. Augustine.
I would like to see a similar video for the Canadian provinces and territories.
Good idea!
It's worth mentioning that these are the established/incorporated dates. There could've been unincorporated settlements that existed earlier which might've missed this list. For example, the city of Newburgh NY was incorporated in 1865 on paper, but we know that there was a village and settlement at Newburgh in 1781 as George Washington was headquartered there at the end of the American revolution.
@20:17 Anyone know why he picked Ogden as the oldest city in Utah instead of Salt Lake? As far as I know, the city has been continuously inhabited since 1847.
Exactly what I was trying to find out. Had to look it up just to make sure I wasn’t remembering incorrect. Ogden is definitely not the oldest in Utah.
Glad I wasn’t the only one tripping out over this. Felt like a smack in the face to Utah and Deseret history.
Actually, Ogden is correct, if you look at wikipedia for Ogden. It's just the year that was wrong. Fort Buenaventura - later Ogden - was established in 1846, a year before Mormon pioneers arrived in the SL Valley.
@@Rickywwx wow, ya learn something new everyday, thanks! I wonder though if it would still count as, from the best I can find via google searches, the fort was actually abandoned in 1850 and a new fort was constructed at a different site? I wonder if that would remove its continuously inhabited status?
It was occupied when Utah became a state, I guess that’s the method he is using🤔
Sault Sté. Marie is pronounced in American English as Sue Saint Marie.
The Taos settlement in Northern New Mexico has been continuously inhabited for a 1000 years and it still is. Curious why it is not Number 1.
Am heading there in March
Taos wasn't named because this list focuses on documented European settlements. This is the same reason that Nacogdoches, TX and Hilo, HI weren't listed as older towns.
In much the same way, many towns with names ending in "field" (ex: Springfield, MA) are based on Native American towns that were either taken by force or found abandoned after smallpox wiped out the original population.
I'm from New Mexico and Taos isn't number one because it was founded in 1615, the "Taos Pueblo" is the part that's been inhabited by the red willow people for 1000 years but it got assimilated into Taos when the initial conquistadors colonized the area and the Settlers managed to keep relations amicable enough for them to integrate until 1640 when the encomienda system caused a revolt from the pueblo people so they fled and didn't come back until 1661 when the local governor promised to cut back on some of the more harsher laws the system had emplaced. So Tldr Taos and the red willow people are two separate entities and Penasco is older.
@@chrisriverata1917 Thanks for the detailed information. I am really looking forward to visiting
@@chrisriverata1917 The pueblo revolt that drove the Spanish out of the territory of New Mexico was in 1680. Some 400 Spanish were killed in the raid. And it wasn't until 1693 that the Spanish returned with promises to reduce their worst tendencies. I am a resident of NM as well and lived in Santa Fe for ten years.
correction Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska not Omaha
Of course it's not the capital of Omaha, Omaha's a city not a state /s
San Antonio, Texas, was found and named in 1691, but founded with the building of the Alamo in 1718.
Wanted to add something about Bath, North Carolina.
Pirate Blackbeard used to dock and live in Bath for years until finally dying right near Ocracoke.
Just got to Kentucky in 1774 and wondering why Texas hasn’t appeared yet, I was mainly thinking about The Alamo, which has to be older. I checked and it is built in 1718 the same year San Antonio was founded.
Yeah! Plus there's definitely older towns in each state that were either destroyed, abandoned or rebuilt; causing their 'official' current establishment date to be later.
Ysleta Texas (in El Paso County) was founded in 1680 and is the oldest town in Texas. This is what I was taught in Texas history class in Texas.
The Kaskaskia people who settled in Peoria were originally from Kaskaskia, which despite only having 21 residents in 2020, and being on the wrong side of the Mississippi river, still exists as a legal municipality in Illinois. At one time it was also the State capitol.
Came to comments to point out some inaccuracies (and there are several) and possible alternatives depending on semantics and definitions but looks like a lot of them are already mentioned in the other comments. Good Job folks!!!!
Annapolis is a city that still has many of its historic buildings around and has a old world feel with the Maryland state capitol on the main hill of the city and the United States naval academy is like a fortress for the city and Saint Anne’s episcopal church functioning like the main church of the city and the restaurants over by the wharf serving crab cakes and the sailboats on the bay giving that adventure feel to it
The oldest city the USA has is old San Juan in the common wealth state of Puerto Rico founded in the year 1521,,
I feel like the Pueblo people had urban areas in Arizona before any european colonial settlement
The list he used is actually a list of European-established settlements. He admits it when he talks about Hawaii. But there are 3 pueblos in New Mexico, Oraibi in Arizona, and Childersburg in Alabama, for which we have good evidence and concrete dates which are all older than the oldest European settlements.
Sault St Marie has many fun things to see, ride thru the Soo Locks, watch the iron ore freighters come thru. Its amazing they can steer these giants in with only a few feet clearance on each side. And watching from the park is free!
There are many villages in AK that have been continuously inhabited by the same tribe for thousands of years. This list is clearly only counting European or U.S. founded cities. AK’s oldest continuously inhabited city is Point Hope and has been continuously inhabited by the same people for over 10,000 years
I lived in Sitka (Shee Atʼiká) in the 1990s and was going to post the same thought. Tlingit people have been there for many thousands of years too.
I was looking through the comments to see if anyone brought it up.
6:11 You say the Duke of Albany is the Duke of York's Scottish title. It is not. Prince Charles Edward (1884-1919) was the last Duke of Albany. The current Duke of York does not have the title Duke of Albany. And the last to be both "Duke of York" and "Duke of Albany" was The Prince Frederick (1763-1827)
Also, why isn't Jamestown there earlier than Plymouth? Even Petersburg dates back to 1611.
I know it's not easy on the eyes, but I've absolutely never heard anyone attempt to pronounce Nacogdoches like that. "Nacka-*doe*-chess" and you're good
I'm 100% certain Jamestown, Virginia was established in 1607 and was actually the very first settlement of the original colonies. So it should for one be the Virginia entry but also put Virginia before Massachusetts
he said oldest continuous city. Jamestown doesn't exist anymore.
@@UnchainedAmerica yes it does
The photo used for John Jacob Astor was the one who died on the Titanic, one hundred years after Astoria Oregon was founded. It was named after his ancestor
For alabama, the city of Mobile is pronounced Moh-beel. The French pronunciation is still used to this day.
A couple of things.
Lewes, Delaware - It’s pronounced with 2 syllables. Like “Lewis.”
Other thing, I get a little laugh when the General pronounces these Spanish names like Portuguese. I mean, I know he’s Portuguese, but an easy cheat for American name pronunciation is that it wasn’t settled by Portuguese.All British, French, Spanish, and to a lesser extent Dutch and Scandinavian, If it looks similar to Portuguese, it’s probably got a Spanish pronunciation.😊
In Maryland, the first city was St. Mary's City (the original capital). I think it was founded 15-20 years before Annapolis. From what I remember from 4th grade social studies, the colonists needed a more suitable city as the capital in terms of defense and agriculture, so they moved up the bay to be less noticeable.
St. Mary’s City was founded in 1634, and Annapolis was founded in 1649, so St. Mary’s City is 14 years older than Annapolis.
😒But he said continuously being occupied, sounds like they abandoned the city when they moved 🤷🏻♂️
St. Mary’s City was and is a town in MD. It’s the current site of St. Mary’s College of MD, and the first European settlement in MD.
I was born and raised in Marietta, Ohio, and I can promise you nobody here pronounces it that way. It's "Mary Etta".
Eupopeans and some Americans always get this wrong. The Puritans and the Separatists were NOT the same people. The people on the Mayflower were Separatists - also called the Pilgrims. They arrived earlier and were not intersted in returning to the Church of England. The Puritans came along at least 20 years later and were made up of Pilgrims - people who hoped to reform the CoE. Like Cromwell only a bit earlier. The Pilgrims just wanted to be left free to practice their religion and raise their children in an "English" atmosphere (they'd previously moved to the Netherlands, where they were free to practice their faith, but were dismayed to see their children turning Dutch. They dressed in the non-sober clothing of those times. The Puritans, on the other hand, wanted to take over both the CoE and the government - which they did, in Endland, briefly, through Cromwell. But in the meantime, they wanted to start a "City of a Hill" to show how it would work. Sadly, theocracy is always a bad idea (I say this as a Christian, I believe it is) and this resulted in a lot of nastiness. After the Puritans arrived, they did kind of absorb the Pilgrims. But there were not Puritans at the first Thanksgiving.
Georgian here! Savannah today is an absolutely gorgeous place, from what I've seen through my vacations. It's basically a vintage-style town with docks for distributing ship cargo and many tall trees in between architecture that bring the whole place a consistent shade and natural liveliness. A lot of Spanish Moss too, and the countryside around it has some big drive-through cotton fields on the land side, and marshes by the coast. Tybee Island is near it too, essentially part of Savannah with how close it is, which has some fun neon-colored buildings and restaurants that serve delicious shrimp and other seafood, as well as some novelty stores for beach-related items and souvenirs like plastic sand toys.
I'd recommend learning more about it, and going on vacation there if you can, even if it's just a virtual click-through on Google Street-View or something. I can't stress enough how beautiful it is.
Charleston in South Carolina is a similarly nice place, though with less trees of course.
depending on how you look at it, pensacola is older than st augustine, if you consider the fact it was destroyed and abandoned before later being rebuilt
Your first screen shows Albany NY as the third oldest in 1607, but your narrative says it was Plymouth MA in 1620.
I noticed that too. Wikipedia and other sources give Albany's founding as 1614, which implies the thumbnail /first map are correct, not the narrated order.
At 18:46
Leavenworth, Kansas
Fun Fact:
Leavenworth is the home of the oldest American army fort west of the Mississippi river....
Very very interesting video. Well done! At the city of Bath you also talked about the population nowadays. This would have been interesting for all of them ❤ yours sevi and keep up the good work !
Mobile is Mo-bill
Biloxi/Ocean Springs, Mississippi were founded in 1699.
Moe-beel is a better transliteration
@@WestlehSeyweld
Moe-BEEL if you want to add the accent in.
20:39 steilacoom (pronounced stil-a-come) is named after its native tribe which to this day is not recognized federally despite several treaties. Their museum is a beautiful place and highly worth the visit
But it oldest city!
Not
At 15:05
Texas....
Nac-a-dosh-is is the pronunciation.
John Wane's movie "Big Jake" has a line in the movie to in the bar scene asking where the guy is from to end the bar fight scene....
Why did you not include 1607 Jamestown, Virginia on the list? The Jamestown settlers actually landed in what is now Virginia Beach, VA. The pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock were actually on their way to Virginia when they were blown off course and landed in Mass.
Childersburg, Alabama has been inhabited since at least 1540 when Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto spent a month with the natives.
Mobile, AL (pronounced MO-bill) is the oldest city in Alabama that was established by Europeans
"mo-BEEL".
Mobile's pronouncation is mo-BEEL.
Small pronunciation correction:
Lewes, DE is pronounced LOO-is
absolutely loved the concept, and very, very well done. loved it. subscribed!
20:22 Salt Lake City was founded July 24th 1847. The city I live in Pleasant Grove Utah was founded July 19, 1850.
Wisconsin was way higher on this list than I had expected
Those darn frnchies!🤣
12:58 Fort Pierre is pronounced Fort Peer like the word for a dock or colleague. The pronounciation changed from the French pronounciation sometime after the Americans took possession and control of the fort. Fort Pierre was also sort of weirdly established with its river opposite duplicate Pierre. And Fort Pierre and Pierre weren't connected by a bridge until 1890 or 1907 depending on if you count the pontoon draw bridge or not. And ferry/river boat services for much of it's history before the Locheless Damns were built up and down the Missouri River. th-cam.com/video/GAQ7eCuiDas/w-d-xo.html
I grew up in San Luis Colorado and your your short synopsis is accurate.
Wilmington North Carolina is the only place in the USA where the government was fully overthrown. The Wilmington 12 is a great read
Looks like the top two are actually Oraibi, AZ from 1100 and Acoma, NM from 1144. I'm guessing there are others that just don't take the top spots overall but would for their state. Looks like this is a fine list ranking the oldest western established settlements, however there are surviving pre-western colonial settlements that go older.
As a former Arizona resident, the fact that Tucson was the last oldest city to be established before the independence of the US makes me proud.
Fun fact: Tucson is the second largest city in Arizona, only behind the state capital and 5th largest city in the country, Phoenix.
And it's only half as old as the tiny village of Oraibi, which is the actual continuously inhabited settlement in Arizona
I love this, really interesting to hear their stories. I'd love to see the commonwealth next!
Regarding mispronunciation... Nacogdoches and Natchitoches both end with the "chez" sound. That being said, you accent and voice tembre are so beautiful that these mis-pro's are easily overlooked. The narration is exception in that it is interesting, informative and humorous. Very well done. I look forward to enjoying more of your work. Many thanks.
7:33 - go pack go
Hampton, Virginia was founded in 1610 and Hopewell, Virginia was founded in 1613. I understand leaving off Jamestown as it is basiclly a museum. I think Virginia has a few more that were founded before 1620.
Absolutely !
True. His information is wildly wrong. 😆
Hampton wasn't a "town" until 1705 and Hopewell not until 1916.
@@dankachur8587Not true -- Hampton is much older than that. The St. John's Church has existed continuously since 1610 as a church community even though its original building does not survive.
Some of these are questionable or at least debatable. For example, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was founded by the French in 1699 and originally known as Fort Maurepas, making it 17 years or so older than Natchez.
There's definitely a lot of questionables on this list, yeah.
I was thinking the same thing. I always thought the towns along the MS gulf coast were older since the French were there in the late 1600s.
@@General.KnowledgeI love that Plymouth is the oldest in Massachusetts, as it was named after my home city in the UK
I think this was reasonably well done and reasonably interesting. The counting on some these cities vs another city is always going to be a bit dodgey and the pronunciations are always going to be a bit challenging on some. But I'd say overall interesting. That was a lot to cover in 20 odd minutes
Wow. Awesome job. You got to see firsthand how difficult it is to pronounce some of the names of cities in America. Even though I was born in San Diego, I sometimes forget how old it is because it's such a cutting edge city.
My town is the 3rd 🥉 oldest in Ohio
(marry et uh ) is how you pronounce the name
That was really interesting. Do you have the same type of video about how each state was formed? I'm from the UK and find this interesting
Good job. I'm sure you have lots of corrections here but I have one more. Mississippi's oldest city (European of course because Native Americans also had cities) is Biloxi, which was founded in 1699.
Vancouver, WA was founded in 1825.
That’s the second WA city older than posted one
Your ignoring childersburg Alabama which was a city of the natives DeSoto stayed at and left troops there. It's been a city since Indian days and is older than St Augustine. Only difference is it was declared a city by Spain as it already existed. The first city created by Europeans is St Augustine
I've just checked out their history as they describe it on their town's website, and it seems like an incredible reach.
@@benpholmes why cause it was a Indian city first instead of a European one. That's really all the debates about. St Augustine didn't exist until Europeans made it. Childersburg existed similar to Mexico city. It existed before and after
@@williammoran4898 If so, that is actually interesting. I'd actually never heard of Childersburg until I just saw the video a few hours ago. I should look into that more.
@@benpholmes it's so it's main issue is the native history isn't known much about. DeSoto brought sickness. As such it lacks proof hence why it's a reach as you said. A lot of the south's native history was lost as tribes were forced west taking the tales of it with them. There's a lot lost to as the Mississippi mound builders had mounds plowed over, stone structures in ne Alabama to shell mound builders south at the beach. It has 77,000 miles of creeks and rivers beginning and ending in one state its alias is the american amazon more caves than any other area and yes native art has been found in many. #5 the most diverse in land state #1 in aquatic wildlife. They were here but we have so little but enough to work out some details like childersburg was a native town.
Settlements in Jersey City go as far back as 1623 and 1630, but the charter for Bergen came in 1660. Swedesboro was settled in 1650.
Lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish traveler, brought the first Europeans to what is now Presidio in 1535, founding one of the first European colonies in the region. Although the Spaniards founded Presidio in the early 1500s, there is proof that native tribes had been residing in the area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, making them a far cry from the initial inhabitants of Presidio.
The reason why Cheyenne is the largest city in WY today is because it has an Air Force base in that city. Also it’s the capital of like one of the sparsest states
You neglected to mention Sweden's brief hold over Delaware. Mobile is pronounced as if it were spelled Mobeel not like it is in mobile phone. And, US independence is officially recognized as 1776 not 1775 which is generally when it is considered the Revolutionary War started.
Sweden’s colony in Delaware, Fort Christina (modern day New Castle) was settled in 1636, so after Lewes. Still a neat fact though!
Didn't Delaware used to be called New Sweden?
The Dutch in New Amsterdam allowed Swedes to settle along the Delaware Estuary in a colony called New Sweden due to having financial backing by several Dutch merchants in Europe. My father's paternal ancestor was already residing there as a ship's carpenter that repaired the boats of Dutch privateers and probably some infamous pirates. I guess those merchants expected the Swedes to obtain furs and hides from the natives which didn't happen thanks to the Iroquois conducting their Beaver Wars. The colony couldn't turn a profit so New Amsterdam took it over. Then the English took control of the Dutch colonies and began hanging anyone around the Delaware Estuary that had any connections with the privateers and pirates in front of the English merchant shippers that were worried about being attacked by them. My father's ancestor caught wind of that before it happened so loaded up his family and tools in wagons to head north to live with the Iroquois in New York. He changed his name from Johan Welsun to John Wilson along the way.
st. mary’s is actually the oldest city in georgia(recorded at least). it was founded in 1566, making it the second oldest city in contiguous US. so while not colonial, it’s similar to st. augustine’s foundation
12:59 in South Dakota that's Fort Pierre, pronounced PEER, not pea-AIR.
Pierre is now the state capitol, but is still a little place, 40 miles from the interstate and a population of about 14,000.
I visited St Augustine earlier this month and went to some of the historical sights, beautiful city, I'll definitely go back soon. My favorite sight is the St Augustine Cathedral, the architecture is amazing
went there many times as my family lived in east central FL...so loved taking day trips to St. Augustine
At 3:07, actually "Santa Fe" means "Holy Faith",
While "Holy Spirit" would be translated to "Espíritu Santo" in spanish
Which also happens to be state in Brazil.
Santa Fe also is a name of Hyundai car lol😂
Florida: St. Augustine was founded to drive out another settlement that had been there for years. That older settlement, founded by French Huguenots, was just up the coast from where St. Augustine was founded. Pensacola was started and abandoned (mosquitoes and hurricanes) prior to St. Augustine and restarted again later.
Minor critique: Sault in Sault Ste Marie is pronounced Soo, the same as Sioux. Maybe in the original French it’s different but today it’s the Soo.
You know what I like about this video, he shows the map right at the beginning if you want to look. Not making you wait if you don't want to. I don't know if that's the most profitable TH-cam model, but it's honest and I got much respect for that. I let it play till the last second
i love how us massholes like to claim we have the first town in america, yet it would actually be "the first continuous english settlement in america"... not nearly as cool
however, we do have the largest town named Sandwich, of which i am a former resident of.
You need a tutorial on the pronunciations of some of these state capitals, especially those in the original 13 colonies. A fun video nonetheless!
Sault Ste.Marie, Michigan had a large Native settlement already in place when Father Marquette arrived. It also had become a tradiing center for fur trappers by this time.Marquette planted the French flad & established a church mission house.