Jan Van Loon House
The Jan Van Loon House is one of the oldest extant buildings in New York State. It is located in Athens, New York at 39 South Washington Street. It is inside the Village of Athens Multiple Resource Area and the Athens Lower Village Historic District. It was built by Jan Van Loon, who fathered eight children including Albertus Van Loon. Van Loon was a blacksmith by trade, but was also known to work in silver.
Van Loon was the earliest European settler to the area, purchasing the land in 1685. In 1688 he then gave the settlement its first name, Loonenburg. Only one wall of the original 1706 structure remains unchanged in the house.
Jan's grandchild, John M. Van Loon, sold the family lands on 30 April 1800 to Isaac Northrup, who then developed them into a more complete village.
In 1932, the New York State Education Department placed a historic marker outside the house:
