List of North American Cities By Year of Foundation

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This is a list of cities in North America by founding year and present-day country.

Year City State or province Country Notes
1500 BC Kaminaljuyu Guatemala Guatemala
1400 BC Nakbe Petén Guatemala
950 BC Takalik AbajTikal Retalhuleu Guatemala
950 BC El Mirador Petén Guatemala
950 BC Uaxactun Petén Guatemala
700 BC Ticul Yucatán Mexico
600 BC Tikal Petén Guatemala
500 BC Cholula Puebla Mexico
300 BC Teotihuacan México Mexico In the Valley of Mexico
200 Mitla Oaxaca Mexico
650 Cahokia Illinois United States
1000 Acoma Pueblo and Taos Pueblo New Mexico United States Oldest continuously occupied communities in the USA. The Acoma Pueblo today is known as Sky City.
1003? L'Anse aux Meadows Newfoundland & Labrador Canada The Norse explorer Leif Ericson established a settlement at 51°N on this site in 1003.
1050 Motul Yucatán Mexico
1054 Antiguo Cuscatlan La Libertad El Salvador Cuscatlán was founded in 1054 by Topiltzin Atzil, last king of Tula of Anahuac. It was a city inhabited by ten thousand, with an additional twelve thousand people who lived in xacal, straw huts distributed at the edge of a maar (crater) which housed the sacred lake of Cuscatlan. In the contemporary Native language, Cuscatlán means Jewel City. On Saturday June 17, 1524, led by Pedro de Alvarado, the Spanish conquistadors found the doors of Cuscatlan, capital of the Lordship of Cuscatlan.
1100 Oraibi Arizona United States (Hopi Reservation)
1325 Tenochtitlan Distrito Federal Mexico Today this city is known as Mexico City
1450 Zuni Pueblo New Mexico United States
1498 Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic Capital of the Dominican Republic. Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the Americas.
1508 Caparra Puerto Rico
1510 Nombre de Dios Colón Panama Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Panama.
1511 Baracoa Guantánamo Cuba Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Cuba, former capital of Cuba.
1514 Santiago Santiago Cuba
1515 Havana Havana Cuba Current Capital of Cuba
1519 La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, (Veracruz) Veracruz Mexico Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Mexico and continental America.
1519 Panama City Panama First European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas
1521 San Juan Puerto Rico United States (unincorporated territory) Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Puerto Rico.
1524 Quetzaltenango Guatemala Guatemala
1525 San Salvador San Salvador Department El Salvador Diego de Holguín became the first mayor of San Salvador after the town was founded on April 1, 1525. Originally founded in what is now the archaeological site Ciudad Vieja, north of the present-day city, it was moved to the Valle de Las Hamacas or the Acelhuate Valley, named so due to the intense seismic activity that characterizes it. On January 2011 San Salvador was named the Iboeroamerican Capital of Culture because the first independent movements in Central America were played in San Salvador on November 5, 1811.
1524 Granada Granada Nicaragua Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Nicaragua.
1526 Acámbaro Guanajuato Mexico
1531 Mazatlán Sinaloa Mexico
1531 Culiacán Sinaloa Mexico
1532 Oaxaca Oaxaca Mexico
1536 San Pedro Sula Cortés Honduras
1540 Childersburg Alabama United States The Oldest City in America.
1540 Campeche Campeche Mexico
1542 Yuriria Guanajuato Mexico
1542 Mérida Yucatán Mexico Founded by Francisco de Montejo over the ruins of the Mayan city T'ho.
1542 Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico
1542 San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato Mexico
1543 Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (Antigua Guatemala) Guatemala
1550 Acapulco Guerrero Mexico Discovered by Cortés in 1531; settlement founded in 1550.
1552 San Luis de la Paz Guanajuato Mexico
1563 Cartago Cartago Costa Rica Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement Costa Rica.
1564 Villa Hermosa de San Juan Bautista Tabasco México The city was founded on June 24, 1564 (day of San Juan Bautista, hence its original name) by the Spanish Don Diego de Quijada
1565 Saint Augustine Florida United States Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the United States.
1575 Saltillo Coahuila Mexico Oldest post-conquest settlement in northern Mexico.
1575 Aguascalientes Aguascalientes Mexico
1576 León Guanajuato Mexico
1583 St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador Canada
1583 Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador Canada
1585 Roanoke Colony Colony of Virginia United States Settlers first left on island August 17, 1585.
1596 Monterrey Nuevo León Mexico
1597 Portobelo Colón Panama
1598 Parras Coahuila Mexico
1599 Tadoussac Quebec Canada Oldest continuously inhabited French established settlement in the Americas, oldest European established settlement in Quebec.
1603 Salamanca Guanajuato Mexico
1605 Port Royal Nova Scotia Canada Established in the summer of 1605 by French colonizing explorers Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain who, in 1608, would establish Quebec City.
1607 Jamestown Virginia United States oldest colony in the original thirteen colonies comprising the United States of America
1607 Santa Fe New Mexico United States Oldest continuously inhabited state capital in the US.
1608 Quebec City Quebec Canada Original settlement on this site was established by Jacques Cartier in 1535 but abandoned in 1536. He returned in 1541 but abandoned the site again. Samuel de Champlain established a permanent settlement on July 3–4, 1608. Only completely garrison-walled city north of Mexico.
1610 Cupids Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Oldest continuously occupied English settlement in Canada.
1610 Hampton Virginia United States Oldest continuously occupied English settlement in the United States.
1610 Kecoughtan Virginia United States
1612 St. George's Bermuda Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Bermuda.
1613 Newport News, Virginia Virginia United States
1614 Albany, New York New York United States Oldest settlement in the United States north of Virginia
1620 Plymouth Massachusetts United States The oldest town in New England
1622 Weymouth Massachusetts United States As Wessagussett, resettled and renamed in 1623
1623 Dover New Hampshire United States oldest settlement in New Hampshire
1623 Gloucester Massachusetts United States
1624 Chelsea Massachusetts United States originally called Winnisimmet
1625 New Amsterdam New York United States Now New York City.
1626 Salem Massachusetts United States
1627 Basseterre Saint Kitts and Nevis
1628 Bridgetown Barbados
1629 Lynn United States
1629 Charlestown Massachusetts United States
1630 Berwick Maine United States Oldest continuously settled town in Maine.
1630 Jersey City, New Jersey New Jersey United States Pavonia, first Dutch settlement in New Jersey
1630 Medford Massachusetts United States Settled on the "Ford" by Meadow
1630 Boston Massachusetts United States settled as New Towne, part of which became Cambridge, Massachusetts
1631 Saint John New Brunswick Canada
1631 Lewes Delaware United States Because Lewes was the earliest town founded in the state, and because Delaware was the first state to ratify the constitution, the town refers to itself as "The first town in the first state."
1631 Cambridge Massachusetts United States Drake, Samuel Adams (1880). History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. 1. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. pp. 305–16. http://books.google.com/books?id=QGolOAyd9RMC&pg=PA316&lpg=PA305&dq=newetowne&source=bl&ots=bWCYe4Smmz&sig=SqBiih-2JOSzUBFnLaYU72oUmBI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA305,M1. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
1632 Williamsburg Virginia United States
1632 St. John's Antigua and Barbuda
1633 Windsor Connecticut United States First English settlement in Connecticut.
1634 Green Bay Wisconsin United States
1634 St. Mary's City Maryland United States
1634 Trois-Rivières Quebec Canada
1634 Willemstad Curaçao Kingdom of the Netherlands Formerly Part of the now dissolved Netherlands Antilles, now autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Not to be confused with one of its constituent countries, the Netherlands)
1635 Concord Massachusetts United States
1636 Springfield Massachusetts United States The Massachusetts Bay Colony's first Connecticut River port - and, by far, its westernmost settlement, sitting 85 miles west of the colonial capital at Boston.
1636 Providence Rhode Island United States Oldest settlement in Rhode Island
1637 Hartford Connecticut United States

1637 Taunton Massachusetts United States

1637 Sandwich Massachusetts United States Oldest town on Cape Cod

1638 Exeter New Hampshire United States One of the four original towns of New Hampshire. Revolutionary War Capital of New Hampshire and site of the ratification of the first state constitution in the North American colonies in January 1776.
1638 Swedesboro New Jersey United States Nucleus of the New Sweden colony that spread along the Delaware River into Pennsylvania and Delaware.
1638 New Haven Connecticut United States

1638 Wilmington Delaware United States Grew from Fort Christina, part of the New Sweden colony. Originally called Willington.
1639 (prior to) St. Marks Florida United States
1639 Stratford Connecticut United States
1639 Newport Rhode Island United States
1639 Sudbury Massachusetts United States
1640 Woburn Massachusetts United States First settled in 1640, incorporated in 1642
1641 Haverhill Massachusetts United States First settled in 1640, incorporated 1641
1642 Montreal Quebec Canada
1642 Lexington Massachusetts United States
1643 Basse-Terre Guadeloupe Territorial capital.
1643 Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato Mexico
1643 Guilford Connecticut United States
1644 Salvatierra Guanajuato Mexico
1646 Andover Massachusetts United States The original Andover, founded by Simon and Anne Bradstreet along with the Barker, Osgood, Stevens, Woodbridge and other families, broke into two separate towns April 7, 1855.
1646 New London Connecticut United States
1647 Kittery Maine United States Oldest incorporated town in Maine.
1649 Annapolis Maryland United States
1651 Medfield Massachusetts United States http://www.town.medfield.net/index.cfm?pid=12391
1651 New Castle Delaware United States Grew from Fort Casimir
1653 Lancaster Massachusetts United States
1654 Pelham New York United States Founded by Thomas Pell who purchased 9000 acres from Siwanoy Indians and received a land grant from the English Crown
1655 Chelmsford Massachusetts United States Founded by settlers from Concord. The area currently encompassed by Chelmsford, Lowell, Westford, Carlisle and to a certain extent Dracut, were all originally part of Chelmsford. Westford seceded in 1729. Carlisle fully became a part of Concord in 1780, seceding from that town in 1805. Lowell would be formed under extraordinary circumstances when the Boston Associates purchased East Chelmsford to serve as a planned factory town, incorporated as Lowell in 1826. Dracut's relationship to Chelmsford is less clear cut, however the relationship of the two towns in the 17th century resembles a slightly imperial one as Dracut, while a separate entity, was largely dependent on Chelmsford, particularly the West Dracut area, near the old boundary of East Chelmsford.
1655 Groton Massachusetts United States
1655 Billerica Massachusetts United States
1659 Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua Mexico
1659 Jamestown Saint Helena
1660 Placentia Newfoundland Canada French Capital unil 1713, originally called Plaisance
1660 Rye New York United States
1662 Uxbridge Massachusetts United States
1664 Schenectady New York United States
1665 Port-de-Paix Nord-Ouest Department Haiti
1666 Newark New Jersey United States
1666 Piscatawaytown New Jersey United States One of the first five New Jersey settlements. Now part of Edison, NJ
1668 Sault Ste. Marie Michigan United States , oldest city in Michigan.
1669 Westfield Massachusetts United States
1670 Charleston South Carolina United States
1670 Wallingford Connecticut United States
1673 Kingston Ontario Canada Grew from Fort Frontenac.
1674 Waterbury Connecticut United States
1680 Ysleta Texas United States
1680 South Orange New Jersey United States Grew from Newark (later Orange).
1680 Peoria Illinois United States First European settlement in Illinois. Originally Fort Crevecoeur, later Fort Clark (1813), renamed Peoria in 1823.
1681 Cockburn Town Turks and Caicos Islands
1682 Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States
1682 Norfolk Virginia United States
1683 Dover Delaware United States
1685 Prairie du Chien Wisconsin United States
1687 New Britain Connecticut United States
1693 Kingston Jamaica
1693 Burlington New Jersey United States
1694 Newark Delaware United States
1696 Rimouski Quebec Canada
1698 Pensacola Florida United States
1699 Biloxi Mississippi United States
1701 Detroit Michigan United States
1702 Mobile Alabama United States
1703 Kaskaskia Illinois United States
1705 Bath North Carolina United States Oldest incorporated town in North Carolina.
1706 Albuquerque New Mexico United States
1709 Chihuahua Chihuahua Mexico
1710 Chatham New Jersey United States On land purchased in 1680.
1710 New Bern North Carolina United States Settled initially by German-Swiss immigrants.
1714 Natchitoches Louisiana United States Oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase
1714 Freehold New Jersey United States Originally called Monmouth Courthouse, the site of the Battle of Monmouth
1715 (prior to) Kekionga Indiana United States Capital of the Miami tribe.
1716 Nacogdoches Texas United States Spanish mission established about 1716 in a much older Caddo village.
1716 Natchez Mississippi United States Dates to the founding of Fort Rosalie by the French.
1718 New Orleans Louisiana United States
1718 San Antonio Texas United States
1719 Trenton New Jersey United States
1719 Baton Rouge Louisiana United States
1721 Cortazar Guanajuato Mexico
1722 Prairie Du Rocher Illinois United States
1723 Beaufort North Carolina United States
1725 Concord New Hampshire United States
1728 Fredericksburg Virginia United States
1729 Baltimore Maryland United States
1732 Vincennes Indiana United States
1733 Richmond Virginia United States History - Richmond (VA) website Economic History - Richmond (VA) website
1733 Savannah Georgia United States
1735 Ste. Genevieve Missouri United States French-Colonial settlement. Oldest continually-inhabited settlement in Missouri.
1738 Fort Rouge Manitoba Canada Now Winnipeg, Manitoba.
1741 Bethlehem Pennsylvania United States
1749 Alexandria Virginia United States
1749 Port-au-Prince Ouest Department Haiti
1749 Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
1749 Windsor Ontario Canada Oldest continually-inhabited settlement in Canada west of Montreal
1750 Erie Pennsylvania United States Grew from the French Fort Presque Isle.
1750 Rock Island Illinois United States Originally Saukenuk
1751 Georgetown Maryland United States Originally in Maryland; became part of the District of Columbia when the District was organized in 1801. Georgetown and its government were incorporated into the District government in 1871.
1754 Augusta Maine United States
1755 Charlotte North Carolina United States
1758 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania United States
1761 Charlottesville Virginia United States
1762 Shepherdstown West Virginia United States Originally known as Mecklenburg.
1762 Allentown Pennsylvania United States Incorporated as Northamptontown.
1763 St. Louis Missouri United States
1763 Burlington Vermont United States
1768 New Smyrna Beach Florida United States Scottish entrepreneur Dr. Turnbull established a colony of 1,225 immigrants at New Smyrna.
1769 Santa Cruz California United States
1769 San Diego California United States Grew from Presidio of San Diego.
1770 Monterey California United States Grew from Presidio of Monterey. Original capital of California
1770 San Blas Nayarit Mexico Spanish Naval Department headquarters established at San Blas.
1772 Ellicott City Maryland United States
1773 Guatemala City Guatemala
1774 Unalaska Alaska United States Oldest Russian settlement of Aleutian Islands, dating to the 1760s. Permanent trading post established in 1774.
1774 Orizaba Veracruz Mexico In 1174, Charles IV grants the title of Villa, but the city was already a Spanish settlement since times of Cortez
1775 Tucson Arizona United States The town of Tucson had existed for over 2000 years at this point but this is the date the Spanish built a presidio and formally recognized the town
1775 Lexington Kentucky United States
1775 Boonesborough Kentucky United States Grew from Fort Boonesborough, built by pioneer Daniel Boone.
1776 San Francisco California United States
1777 San Jose California United States Originally known as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California.
1778 Louisville Kentucky United States Grew from Fort Nelson, established by explorer George Rogers Clark.
1779 Jonesborough Tennessee United States Later organized as the lost State of Franklin with Jonesborough as capital 1784.
1779 Nashville Tennessee United States Grew from Fort Nashborough
1781 Montpelier Vermont United States
1781 Los Angeles California United States
1784 Frenchtown Michigan United States Third French settlement in Michigan
1785 Harrisburg Pennsylvania United States
1785 Asheville North Carolina United States
1785 Dubuque Iowa United States Oldest city in Iowa, among oldest European settlements west of the Mississippi River.
1786 Columbia South Carolina United States
1786 Florissant Missouri United States Originally known as St. Ferdinand.
1786 Frankfort Kentucky United States
1786 Portland Maine United States
1788 Marietta Ohio United States First permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory
1788 Cincinnati Ohio United States
1788 Charleston West Virginia United States Grew from Fort Lee.
1789 Buffalo New York United States
1790 Washington District of Columbia United States
1791 Monroe Louisiana United States Originally known as Fort Miro.
1791 Kenai Alaska United States Grew from Fort St. Nicholas of the Russian-American Company.
1791 Knoxville Tennessee United States
1791 Bangor Maine United States
1792 Kodiak Alaska United States Founded in 1792 by Alexander Baranov as the new site for at Three Saints Bay, originally founded in 1784.
1792 Raleigh North Carolina United States
1793 York Ontario Canada First established as Fort Rouillé; now Toronto.
1794 Fort Wayne Indiana United States
1795 Edmonton Alberta Canada Grew from Fort Edmonton.
1796 Cleveland Ohio United States
1797 Franklinton Ohio United States Eventually absorbed by Columbus, Ohio.
1798 Shepherdstown West Virginia United States Formerly known as Mecklenburg.
1799 Potosi Missouri United States Town was founded by Moses Austin, the same person which founded Austin, Texas and was the sight of many small battles during the American Civil War
1799 Sitka Alaska United States Original capital of Alaska, founded by the Russian-American Company in 1799, destroyed in 1802, reestablished in 1804.
1800 Buffalo New York United States "In 1800, it was a town of four log cabins.".
1800 Hull Quebec Canada Formerly known as Wrightville.
1803 Chicago Illinois United States Grew from Fort Dearborn.
1805 Huntsville Alabama United States
1807 Prince George British Columbia Canada Grew from fur trading post of Fort George, estalished in 1807 by the North West Company.
1810 Manchester New Hampshire United States
1810 San Bernardino California United States
1811 Astoria Oregon United States Grew from Fort Astoria, founded by the Pacific Fur Company in 1811.
1812 Columbus Ohio United States
1812 Kamloops British Columbia Canada Grew from fur trading posts of Fort Cumcloups (Fort Kamloops) and Fort She-whaps (Shuswap), founded by the Pacific Fur Company and North West Company, both in 1812.
1815 Hamilton Ontario Canada
1816 Chattanooga Tennessee United States Originally named Ross's Landing.
1816 Cambridge Ontario Canada Original settlement in 1816 named Shades Mill, ON, renamed Galt, ON in 1827. City of Galt amalgamated with the towns of Preston and Hespeler, village of Blair and parts of Waterloo township to form City of Cambridge in 1973. Oldest settled area of Regional Municipality of Waterloo.
1816 Saginaw Michigan United States
1817 Fort Smith Arkansas United States
1818 Pontiac Michigan United States The first settlers arrived in what is now the City of Pontiac in 1818. Two years later there were enough people there to form a village named after the famous Indian Chief Chief Pontiac Pontiac was Michigan's first inland settlement.The village was officially recognized by the state legislature in 1837 and it incorporated as a city in 1861.
1818 Columbia Missouri United States
1819 Montgomery Alabama United States State capital, grew from the 1540 French settlement Fort Toulouse.
1819 Springfield Illinois United States
1819 Memphis Tennessee United States Near the site of the earlier French Fort Prudhomme.
1821 Alexandria British Columbia Canada Grew from fur trading posts of Fort Alexandria, founded by the North West Company in 1821.
1821 Little Rock Arkansas United States
1821 Indianapolis Indiana United States
1822 Jacksonville Florida United States
1822 Jackson Mississippi United States
1823 Tampa Florida United States Grew from earlier military post Fort Brooke.
1824 Tallahassee Florida United States
1825 Vancouver Washington United States Grew from Fort Vancouver.
1825 Vicksburg Mississippi United States
1825 Grand Rapids Michigan United States
1825 Irapuato Guanajuato Mexico Becomes villa in 1825 and ciudad in 1893.
1826 London Ontario Canada
1826 Wabasha Minnesota United States Oldest city in Minnesota
1827 Guelph Ontario Canada
1827 St. Andrews Florida United States Now part of Panama City
1828 Key West Florida United States
1833 Milwaukee Wisconsin United States
1833 Kitchener Ontario Canada Formerly Berlin ON, renamed Kitchener ON in 1916.
1836 Shreveport Louisiana United States
1836 Madison Wisconsin United States
1837 Lansing Michigan United States
1837 Houston Texas United States
1837 Toledo Ohio United States
1839 Sacramento California United States
1841 Dallas Texas United States
1843 Atlanta Georgia United States Originally known as Marthasville, Georgia.
1843 Victoria British Columbia Canada
1847 Brantford Ontario Canada Originally known as Brant's ford.
1847 Salt Lake City Utah United States Originally known as Great Salt Lake City.
1847 Harrisburg Illinois United States
1850 Bytown Ontario Canada Now Ottawa, Ontario.
1851 La Crosse Wisconsin United States
1851 Seattle Washington United States
1854 Omaha Nebraska United States
1856 O'Fallon Missouri United States
1857 Waterloo Ontario Canada
1858 Denver Colorado United States
1862 Victoria British Columbia Canada Provincial Capital of British Columbia
1864 Salinas California United States
1867 Minneapolis Minnesota United States
1868 Phoenix Arizona United States
1870 Wichita Kansas United States
1871 Birmingham Alabama United States
1872 Anniston Alabama United States
1874 Pasadena California United States
1875 Orlando Florida United States
1875 Calgary Alberta Canada Grew from Fort Calgary
1882 Regina Saskatchewan Canada
1883 Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada
1886 Vancouver British Columbia Canada Named after English explorer George Vancouver
1886 Nelson British Columbia Canada
1887 Gulfport Mississippi United States
1889 Oklahoma City Oklahoma United States
1889 Tijuana Baja California Mexico Tijuana derives from the Kumeyaay word Tiwan, meaning by-the-sea.
1893 Kamloops British Columbia Canada From the Shuswap language "Tk'emlups" meaning meeting of the waters.
1896 Miami Florida United States
1905 Cranbrook British Columbia Canada
1905 Las Vegas Nevada United States
1911 The Pas Manitoba Canada Grew from Fort Paskoyac
1915 Prince George British Columbia Canada Grew from Fort George

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