America's Oldest Street
Monday September 14, 2009
With its six stone homes built before 1720, Huguenot Street in New Paltz, New York, has the distinction of being America's oldest street. Come along with me on this photo tour, then plan your own walk through history in neighboring New York this autumn.Need Help Planning Your New England Fall Foliage Trip? I'll hold your hand every step of the way with my free, eight-day email course.
Huguenot Street photo © 2005 Kim Knox Beckius.
Comments
excuse me but Leyden St. in plymouth Ma. is America’s oldest street. Check the facts.
Hi Jayne,
As I state in my article, “Huguenot Street is known as America’s oldest street because it was continuously inhabited from the time of the Huguenots’ first settlement.” It is that record of continuous residential use that distinguishes Huguenot Street from Leyden Street in Plymouth.
What year were these streets built? I’m led to believe that Aviles Street in St Augustine, ca. 1572 is the country’s oldest street.
I thought St. George St in Saint Augustine Fl, is the oldest… hmmm
I beleive that Aviles Street in St. Augustine, FL is the Oldest Stree in the USA…
Hi, this Richard Heyl de Ortiz. I am the Director of Public Relations at Historic Huguenot Street. Kim has put together a wonderful write-up about our site. The “oldest street” reference is, as Kim points out in her response, qualified. Someone, back in the 1950s, thought they would abbreviate to make a catchy heading on one of our brochures. It has stuck like glue! St. Augustine, as we remind visitors, is of course much older. What is unique about Historic Huguenot Street is that visitors have an opportunity to experience this small village, a collection of colonial stone houses, in the their original setting and, in most cases, largely unchanged from that period. In addition, the houses were continuous inhabited by Huguenot descendants until they became museum houses. Today they are still supported by descendants. Come see and enjoy funky downtown New Paltz while you are it.
Richard, thanks so much for weighing in with these additional details.