List of the oldest churches in the United States


The designation of the oldest church in the United States requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church congregation. There is a distinction between old church buildings that have been in continuous use as churches, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as churches and those that were shuttered for many decades.
In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist. Some of these churches are located in areas that were part of the thirteen original colonies that made up the United States in 1776. Others were built in states and territories that were later annexed, such as Louisiana, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Sites on the list are generally from the First Period of American architecture or earlier.
To be listed here a site must:
Cathedral of San Juan BautistaSan Juan, Puerto RicoPR1521–1540Roman CatholicThe oldest church built in the United States and in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The original cathedral was constructed from wood in 1521. It was destroyed by a hurricane and the current structure constructed in 1540, being reshaped in later centuries, the last time being in 1917. Building has been within the territory of the U.S. since 1898, when Puerto Rico was annexed from Spain.
Porta Coeli ChurchSan Germán, Puerto RicoPR1609Roman CatholicThe second oldest church structure in the United States and in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico
San Miguel MissionSanta Fe, New MexicoNMApproximately start in 1610 or 1626Roman CatholicThe oldest church built in the continental US. The original adobe walls and altar were built by the Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the orders of the Spaniards, but much of the structure was rebuilt in 1710. Building has been within the U.S. since 1848, when the US annexed New Mexico territory following the Mexican–American War.
Jamestown ChurchJamestown, VirginiaVA1647 AnglicanOnly floor tiles and foundations remain from the first brick church. Oldest church in the original 13 colonies.
San Estevan Del Rey Mission ChurchAcoma, New MexicoNM1649Roman Catholic
Church of Saint Blaise of IllescasCoamo, Puerto RicoPR1661Roman Catholic
Old Trinity ChurchChurch Creek, MarylandMD1675EpiscopalChurch building in continuous use; as such, oldest in the continental US.
St. Mary's, WhitechapelLancaster County, VirginiaVA1675Episcopal
Third Haven Meeting HouseTalbot County, MarylandMD1681–84Quaker Oldest Quaker meeting house in the United States.
Old Ship ChurchHingham, MassachusettsMA1681Puritan, Congregational, now Unitarian UniversalistOnly remaining 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in the US.
St. Luke's ChurchSmithfield, VirginiaVA1682Anglican, Episcopal after American Revolution, currently non-denominational and does not have a congregation.National Historic Landmark
Old Indian Meeting HouseMashpee, MassachusettsMA1684Congregational/Native AmericanOldest Native American church
Church of Saint Germanus of AuxerreSan Germán, Puerto RicoPR1688Roman Catholic
Old Quaker Meeting HouseFlushing, New YorkNY1694Quaker Oldest religious building in Queens County, New York City. The only surviving example in New York State of a typical 17th-century ecclesiastical frame structure of medieval design.
Old Dutch Church of Sleepy HollowSleepy Hollow, New YorkNY1697 Dutch ReformedOldest church building in New York state
Grace ChurchYorktown, VirginiaVA1697Episcopal
Old Norriton Presbyterian ChurchMontgomery County, PennsylvaniaPA1698PresbyterianOldest Surviving church in Pennsylvania and oldest place of worship in Pennsylvania
Holy Trinity Church Wilmington, DelawareDE1698Lutheran/EpiscopalOldest Swedish Church in the United States
Great Friends Meeting HouseNewport, Rhode IslandRI1699Quaker Quaker Meeting House, oldest surviving church in Rhode Island
Gloria Dei
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPA1700Lutheran/EpiscopalOldest surviving church in Philadelphia
Portsmouth Friends MeetinghousePortsmouth, Rhode IslandRI1700Quaker
Six Principle Baptist ChurchNorth Kingstown, Rhode IslandRI1703BaptistPossibly oldest surviving Baptist church building in the U.S.
St. Mary's Episcopal ChurchBurlington, New JerseyNJ1703EpiscopalOldest church in New Jersey
St. Peter's Church New Kent County, VirginiaVA1703EpiscopalOldest Church in the Diocese of Virginia
Makemie Memorial Presbyterian ChurchSnow Hill, MarylandMD1683PresbyterianOldest continuously operated Presbyterian church in the United States
St. Andrews Episcopal ChurchCharleston, South CarolinaSC1706EpiscopalOldest church in South Carolina
Old Narragansett ChurchWickford, Rhode IslandRI1707EpiscopalOldest surviving colonial Episcopal church in Northeastern USA
St. Michael's ChurchMarblehead, MassachusettsMA1714EpiscopalOldest surviving Episcopal church building in New England on its original foundation
Merion Friends Meeting HouseMerion Station, PennsylvaniaPA1715 1695 Quaker Third oldest Friends meeting house in the United States.
Old North ChurchBoston, MassachusettsMA1723EpiscopalOldest active church building in Boston and a National Historic Landmark, the Old North Church is the location from which the famous signal lanterns are said to have been displayed for Paul Revere's midnight ride during the American Revolution.
Trinity Church, NewportNewport, Rhode IslandRI1726EpiscopalOldest Episcopal Parish in Rhode Island
St. John's Episcopal ChurchHampton, VirginiaVA1728EpiscopalOldest Episcopal Parish in the New World
St Francis Xavier ChurchCompton, MarylandMD1731Roman CatholicOldest Catholic Church in original 13 colonies.
Christ ChurchNanjemoy, MarylandMD1732EpiscopalOldest Episcopal congregation in Maryland
St. Thomas Episcopal ChurchBath, North CarolinaNC1734EpiscopalOldest church in North Carolina
Cathedral of San FernandoSan Antonio, TexasTX1738CatholicOldest church in Texas. Oldest RC Cathedral in contiguous United States. The church was named for Ferdinand III of Castile. In 1868, the cathedral was considerably enlarged in the Gothic style.
St. Paul's Episcopal ChurchNorfolk, VirginiaVA1739EpiscopalOldest Surviving Building in The City of Norfolk.
Augustus Lutheran ChurchTrappe, PennsylvaniaPA1743LutheranOldest unaltered Lutheran Church in use by the same congregation
King's ChapelBoston, MassachusettsMA1754Unitarian ChristianOldest continually used religious site in Boston, present church building 1754
St. Michael's ChurchCharleston, South CarolinaSC1752–1761EpiscopalOldest church edifice in Downtown Charleston, SC
St. Paul's ChapelNew York, New YorkNY1766EpiscopalOldest church building in Manhattan
St. John's Episcopal ChurchFort Washington, MarylandMD1767EpsicopalLocated in the Broad Creek Historic District. The building is the 4th iteration of the church since the original was erected in 1695.
Mission San Diego de AlcalaSan Diego, CaliforniaCA1769Roman CatholicFirst of the 21 California Missions, oldest church in use in California
The Falls ChurchFalls Church, VirginiaVA1769EpsicopalFirst church in Falls Church, Virginia and established by the colonial Virginia Assembly in May 1732 for the land north of the Occoquan River
St. Gabriel Catholic ChurchSt. Gabriel, LouisianaLA1776Roman CatholicOldest church in the Mississippi River Valley
Barratt's ChapelFrederica, DelawareDE1780MethodistSecond oldest Methodist church building in the U.S. built for that purpose
Mission San Juan CapistranoSan Juan CapistranoCA1782Roman Catholic17o3 Cathedral Basilica St. Augustine, Florida
Wyandot Mission ChurchUpper SanduskyOH1824MethodistThe oldest Methodist mission church in America

Oldest continuous church congregations

By state

Alabama