List of North American settlements by year of foundation

a

This is a list of settlements in North America by founding year, historical entity and present-day country. Year SettlementHistorical entity Subdivision CountryNotes Tepoztlán Morelos Mexico 1500 BC San José Mogote Oaxaca Mexico 1500 BC Chalcatzingo Morelos Mexico 1500 BC Calixtlahuaca Mexico Mexico 1500 BC KaminaljuyuPreclassic Maya Guatemala Guatemala 1400 BC Teopantecuanitlan Guerrero Mexico 1400 BC NakbePreclassic Maya Petén Guatemala 1200 BC San Lorenzo TenochtitlánOlmecs Veracruz Mexico 1200 BC La VentaOlmecs Veracruz Mexico 1150 BC Etlatongo Oaxaca Mexico 1000 BC Xochitecatl Tlaxcala Mexico 1000 BC Cuicuilco Tlalpan Mexico 1000 BC Tres ZapotesOlmecs Veracruz Mexico 950 BC Takalik AbajPreclassic Maya/Olmecs Retalhuleu Guatemala 950 BC El MiradorPreclassic Maya Petén Guatemala 950 BC UaxactunPreclassic Maya Petén Guatemala 800 BC ZazacatlaOlmecs Morelos Mexico 700 BC TiculPreclassic Maya Yucatán Mexico 600 BC TikalPreclassic Maya Petén Guatemala 500 BC Monte AlbánZapotec civilization Oaxaca Mexico 500 BC Cholula Puebla Mexico Possibly the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the Americas 400 BC Tula Hidalgo Mexico 300 BC Teotihuacan México Mexico In the Valley of Mexico 200 MitlaZapotec civilization Oaxaca Mexico 600 Cantona Puebla Mexico 650 Cahokia Illinois United States 874 Reykjavík Capital Region Iceland First European settlement in the Americas. Founding is given as 874 CE by Ingólfr Arnarson in the Landnámabók. Reykjavík is located west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the American plate. 985? Eastern Settlement Greenland Denmark Norse explorer Erik the Red established this settlement, followed by the Western Settlement c. 985. 1000 L'Anse aux Meadows Icelandic Commonwealth Newfoundland and Labrador Canada First European settlement in the New World. Norse explorer Leif Ericson established a settlement on this site in 1003. 1050 MotulLeague of Mayapan Yucatán Mexico 1054 Antiguo CuscatlanToltec Empire La Libertad El Salvador 1100 OraibiPueblo II period Arizona United States 1144 Acoma Pueblo Pueblo III period New Mexico United States Oldest continuously occupied community in the US, known today as Sky City 1325 TenochtitlanAztec Empire Distrito Federal Mexico Present-day Mexico City 1493 La Isabela Puerto Plata Dominican Republic First European settlement in the New World during the Age of Discovery. Abandoned by 1500. 1494 Concepción de la Vega La Vega Dominican Republic Founded by Christopher Columbus in 1494 as a gold town, and abandoned by 1562 after an earthquake destroyed the settlement. 1496 Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the Americas. Present-day capital of the Dominican Republic. 1497 St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Oldest English-founded city in North America,Paul O'Neill, The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland, 2003, . seasonal until c. 1630 1508 Caparra Puerto Rico United States 1509 Sevilla la Nueva Seville, St. Ann's Bay Jamaica Established by Juan de Esquivel, the first Spanish governor of Jamaica, St Ann's Bay was the third capital established by Spain in the Americas. 1510 Nombre de Dios Colón Panama Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Panama and the continental Americas 1511 Baracoa Guantánamo Cuba Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Cuba, and its former capital 1513 Bayamo Granma Cuba Capital of Cuba in 1513 1514 Santiago Santiago Cuba 1515 Havana Havana Cuba Present-day capital of Cuba 1519 La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz Veracruz Mexico Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Mexico 1519 Panama City Panamá Panama First European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas 1521 San Juan Puerto Rico United States Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous United States or U.S. territories 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. Founded on what is now the archaeological site of Ciudad Vieja, north of the present-day city, it was moved to the Valle de Las Hamacas (Acelhuate Valley). 1524 Granada Granada Nicaragua Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Nicaragua 1526 Acámbaro Guanajuato Mexico 1526 San Miguel de Gualdape South Carolina, then Georgia United States First European settlement in the contiguous U.S., abandoned after three months 1531 Mazatlán Sinaloa Mexico 1531 Puebla City Puebla Mexico 1531 Culiacán Sinaloa Mexico 1531 Querétaro City Querétaro Mexico 1532 Oaxaca Oaxaca Mexico 1534 Villa de la Vega Saint Catherine Parish Jamaica After founding Seville in 1509, Spanish settlers moved to a healthier site which they named Villa de la Vega. The English renamed it Spanish Town when they conquered the island in 1655. 1536 San Pedro Sula Cortés Honduras 1539 Zuni Pueblo New Mexico United States Ferguson, T.J. (1985). A Zuni Atlas. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press 1540 Compostela Nayarit Mexico Known as Capital de la Nueva Galicia Compostela (1548–1560) 1540 Childersburg Alabama United States Possibly the oldest still-occupied village in eastern North America,City of Childersburg website, accessed July 18, 2011. established by Native Americans 1540 Campeche Campeche Mexico 1540 Taos Pueblo New Mexico United States One of the oldest continuously inhabited Native American settlements in the United States 1541 Morelia Michoacán Mexico Known as Valladolid until 1828 1541 Charlesbourg-Royal Quebec Canada First French settlement; short-lived 1542 Yuriria Guanajuato Mexico 1542 Mérida Yucatán Mexico Founded by Francisco de Montejo on the ruins of the Maya city of T'ho 1542 Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico 1542 San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato Mexico 1543 Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (Antigua Guatemala) Guatemala Guatemala 1544 Ejutla Jalisco Mexico1550 Acapulco Guerrero Mexico Discovered by Cortés in 1531; settled in 1550.Merriam-Webster's collegiate encyclopedia, Acapulco (de Juárez), p. 7 1559 Pensacola Florida United States Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived settlement in 1559. 1560 Port of Spain Port of Spain Trinidad And Tobago A Spanish garrison was posted near the foot of the Laventille Hills, which today form the city's eastern boundary. 1563 Cartago Cartago Costa Rica Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Costa Rica 1563 Villa de Durango Durango Mexico Capital of the Nueva Vizcaya province of Villa New Spain 1564 Fort Caroline Florida United States A permanent settlement of 200 soldiers and artisans led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, who had accompanied Ribault on a previous expedition. With help from the Timucua Indians, the colonists began building a village and fort on the river's south bank and named the area La Caroline after Charles IX of France. 1564 Villa Hermosa de San Juan Bautista Tabasco México Founded on June 24, 1564 (the feast of San Juan Bautista, hence its original name) by Diego de Quijada 1565 Saint Augustine Florida United States Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous U.S. San Agustín/St. Augustine was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. 1566 Saint Marys Georgia United States Second-oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous U.S.; on the St. Mary's River 1573 San Germán Puerto RicoUnited States 1575 Saltillo Coahuila Mexico Oldest post-conquest settlement in northern MexicoMerriam-Webster's collegiate encyclopedia, Saltillo, p. 1418 1575 Aguascalientes Aguascalientes Mexico 1576 León Guanajuato Mexico 1583 Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador Canada First permanent English settlement in North America 1585 Roanoke Colony North Carolina United States Settlers were left on the island on August 17, 1585. 1587-1623 Mantle Site Ontario Canada Massive late Woodland Huron-Wendat village site, with trade links reaching as far as Newfoundland. 1596 Monterrey Nuevo León Mexico 1597 Portobelo Colón Panama 1598 Parras Coahuila Mexico 1598 Española New Mexico United States First European-founded capital of the "New World" in the United States, established by Juan de Oñate. 1598 San Juan de los Caballeros New Mexico United States With Española, the oldest European-founded settlement in the southwestern United States 1599 Tadoussac Quebec Canada Oldest continuously inhabited French-established settlement in the Americas, and the oldest European-established settlement in Quebec 1603 Salamanca Guanajuato Mexico 1604 Saint John New Brunswick CanadaFounded as Saint-Jean in 1604 by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. 1604 Canso Nova Scotia Canada Founded in 1604 by the French as Canseau, settled in 1518 by European fur traders and fishermen. Canso and the surrounding islands were involved in the French and English struggles to control the area. 1604 L'Île-aux-Marins Saint Pierre and Miquelon FranceSettled in 1604 by French fishermen. Today, the island is still French and is only inhabited during the summer. 1604 Saint Croix Island Maine United States Established in the summer of 1604 by a French expedition, led by Pierre Dugua, which included Samuel de Champlain. After the winter of 1604–1605 the survivors relocated and founded Port-Royal, Nova Scotia. 1605 Port Royal Nova Scotia Canada Established in the summer of 1605 by French colonizing explorers Pierre Dugua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain, who established Quebec City in 1608. 1607 Jamestown Virginia United States Oldest permanent European settlement in the Thirteen Colonies 1607 Popham Colony Maine United States Short-lived settlement, a Plymouth Company project 1607 Santa Fe New Mexico United States Oldest continuously inhabited state capital in the US 1608 Québec Quebec Canada Originally settled by Jacques Cartier in 1535, who abandoned it 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 1611 Henricus Virginia United States 1612 St. George's St. GeorgeBermuda Oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in Bermuda 1613 Newport News, Virginia Virginia United States 1614 Albany New York United States Oldest European settlement in New York State, founded as Fort Nassau and renamed Fort Orange in 1623. First Dutch settlement in North America 1615 Taos New Mexico United States 1620 Plymouth Massachusetts United States Oldest town in New England and Massachusetts. Settled by Pilgrims from the Mayflower. 1622 Weymouth Massachusetts United States The Wessagusset Colony, resettled and renamed in 1623 1623 Dover New Hampshire United States Oldest settlement in New Hampshire. 1623 Gloucester Massachusetts United States Abandoned in 1629, but quickly resettled. 1623 Eliot Maine United States Part of Kittery until 1810 1624 Chelsea Massachusetts United States 1624 Fort Wilhelmus New Jersey United States Short-lived factorij on what is now Burlington Island in Delaware River 1624 Fort Orange New York United States Dutch factorij which grew to become the Capital District around Albany 1624 New Amsterdam New York United States Present-day New York City. First settled 1624 on Governors Island, followed by Manhattan the following year. 1625 Merrymount Massachusetts United States Now Quincy, Massachusetts 1626 Salem Massachusetts United States 1626 Socorro New Mexico United States Originally founded as Nuestra Señora de Perpetuo Socorro; abandoned in 1680 after the Pueblo Revolt, and resettled in 1815. 1626 Fort Nassau New Jersey United States A Dut