List of the oldest buildings in Illinois

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

BuildingImageLocationFirst builtUseNotes
Old Cahokia Courthouse Cahokia Heights, Illinois1737Residence/CourthouseOldest building in Illinois. French Canadian Court House[1]
Fort de Chartres Powder Magazine Randolph County, Illinoisc. 1750MilitaryOldest stone building in Illinois; French military fortification
Church of the Holy Family (Cahokia Heights, Illinois) Cahokia Heights, Illinois1786-1799ChurchFrench Canadian church[2]
Martin–Boismenue House East Carondelet1790ResidentialOne of the oldest surviving French Colonial structures in Illinois.
Creole House Prairie du Rocher, Illinoisc. 1800ResidenceOne of the oldest surviving French colonial homes in Prairie du Rocher.[3]
Pierre Menard Home near Kaskaskia, Illinoisc. 1802ResidenceOldest former home of a former state government official (Pierre Menard) standing in the state
Kirkpatrick HouseEdwardsville, Illinois1805ResidenceOldest house in Edwardsville and Madison County which was built by the founder of Edwardsville Thomas Kirkpatrick[4]
Nicholas Jarrot Mansion Cahokia Heights, Illinois1807–1810ResidenceFrench trapper's Federal style house[5][3]
James Lemen HouseNew Design, Illinoisc. 1810ResidenceOldest brick house in Monroe County and only surviving building from the New Design settlement[6]
Rose Hotel Elizabethtown, Illinois1812HotelOldest hotel in the state
Robinson-Stewart House Carmi, Illinois1814ResidenceOldest building in Carmi
Daniel Tolman House Edwardsville, Illinois1819ResidenceSecond oldest building in Edwardsville[7]
Benjamin Stephenson House Edwardsville, Illinois1820ResidenceHome of territorial Illinois delegate Benjamin Stephenson
Black Homestead Farm Greene County, Illinois1821ResidenceOldest standing house in Greene County
Clayville Tavern Clayville, Illinois1824TavernTavern built by John Broadwell
Dowling House Galena, Illinois1826-27ResidenceOldest building in Galena
Ratcliff Inn Carmi, Illinois1828ResidenceBuilt for Carmi founder James Ratcliff
Hodges House Carrollton, Illinois1829ResidenceOldest house in Carrollton
John Patton Log Cabin Lexington, Illinois1829ResidenceOne of the oldest buildings in McLean County, Illinois
Beecher Hall Jacksonville, Illinois1829-1830College BuildingOldest college building in Illinois and the first built in the state
Mermaid House Hotel Lebanon, Illinois1830HotelBuilt by Lyman Adams. Visited by Charles Dickens in 1842.
Noble–Seymour–Crippen House Chicago, Illinois1833ResidenceThe oldest building in Chicago
Vandalia State House Vandalia, Illinois1836Capitol BuildingOldest state capitol building in Illinois
Old St. Patrick's Church Chicago1854ChurchOldest surviving church in Chicago
University Hall Evanston1869College buildingOldest building on the campus of Northwestern University
Delaware Building Chicago1872Commercial
Berghoff Buildings Chicago1872CommercialThree buildings currently occupied by the Berghoff restaurant
Page Brothers Building Chicago1872CommercialThe building features Chicago's last remaining cast iron façade
Harker Hall Urbana1877College buildingOldest building in use on the campus of the University of Illinois
Manhattan Building
Chicago1889–1891CommercialOldest surviving skyscraper in the world. Currently residential condominiums.

See also

References