New York City is a never-ending developing city but there are some historic landmarks that have stood their ground after planting their roots. The landscape of the city changes relatively drastically with new towering buildings and urban parks developed over the years.
Well just as significant as constant change is within the big apple, it’s also a city harboring stories of American heritage. Here are New York City’s 4 oldest buildings:
1. Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House, 1652. The house located in Milton Fidler Park is one of the first buildings built by Europeans on Long Island. The Pieter Claesen House is the oldest standing example of a ‘Dutch saltbox house’ in the U.S. which makes it a National Historic Landmark.
2. Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead, 1654
The Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead is so-named for the only three owners the house has had since it was built in 1654. Believed to be the oldest inhabited private home in America, the Queens home’s grounds include a secret garden and a 132-tombstone graveyard.
3. John Bowne House, 1661.
This house was used by Quakers in Queens, NY as a meeting place of refuge when religious freedom was a pressing issue in society. The Browne family lived in this estate until 1945 and rumors still linger that the house was operating as a safe house for the Underground Railroad. The John Brown House is currently a museum in Flushing, Queens. Stop by if you get that chance.
4. Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House, 1662.
This is the oldest standing building on Staten Island and built by one of the original Dutch settlers, Pierre Billiou. Billiou arrived to New Amsterdam after fleeing religious persecution in Europe just the year before.
