List of the oldest buildings in Illinois

This article lists the oldest extant buildings in Illinois, including extant buildings and structures constructed prior to and during the United States rule over Illinois. Only buildings built prior to 1830 are suitable for inclusion on this list, or the building must be the oldest of its type.

In order to qualify for the list, a structure must: be a recognizable building (defined as any human-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy); incorporate features of building work from the claimed date to at least in height and/or be a listed building.

This consciously excludes ruins of limited height, roads and statues. Bridges may be included if they otherwise fulfill the above criteria. Dates for many of the oldest structures have been arrived at by radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology and should be considered approximate. If the exact year of initial construction is estimated, it will be shown as a range of dates.

List of oldest buildings

BuildingImage Location First built UseNotes Old Cahokia Courthouse Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1737 Residence/Courthouse Oldest building in Illinois. French Canadian Court House "Doors close at Dana-Thomas House". Springfield, Ill. State Journal-Register. December 1, 2008. Fort de Chartres Powder Magazine Randolph County, Illinois c. 1750 Military Oldest stone building in Illinois; French military fortification Church of the Holy Family Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1786-1799 Church French Canadian church Green, Susan. Great Historic Places. Simon & Schuster, 1980 Martin–Boismenue House East Carondelet 1790 Residential One of the oldest surviving French Colonial structures in Illinois.Creole HousePrairie du Rocher, Illinoisc. 1800ResidenceOne of the oldest surviving French colonial homes in Prairie du Rocher.Pierre Menard Homenear Kaskaskia, Illinoisc. 1802ResidenceOldest former home of a former state government official (Pierre Menard) standing in the stateKirkpatrick HouseEdwardsville, Illinois1805ResidenceOldest house in Edwardsville and Madison County which was built by the founder of Edwardsville Thomas Kirkpatrick Nicholas Jarrot Mansion Cahokia Heights, Illinois 1807–1810 Residence French trapper's Federal style house "NHL nomination for Nicholas Jarrot Mansion". National Park Service. Retrieved April 20, 2017.James Lemen HouseNew Design, Illinoisc. 1810ResidenceOldest brick house in Monroe County and only surviving building from the New Design settlementRose HotelElizabethtown, Illinois1812HotelOldest hotel in the stateRobinson-Stewart HouseCarmi, Illinois1814ResidenceOldest building in CarmiDaniel Tolman HouseEdwardsville, Illinois1819ResidenceSecond oldest building in EdwardsvilleBenjamin Stephenson HouseEdwardsville, Illinois1820ResidenceHome of territorial Illinois delegate Benjamin StephensonBlack Homestead FarmGreene County, Illinois1821ResidenceOldest standing house in Greene CountyJohn Shaw CabinHamburg, Illinoisc. 1822ResidenceOldest standing building in Calhoun CountyClayville TavernClayville, Illinois1824TavernTavern built by John Broadwell Dowling House Galena, Illinois 1826-27 Residence Oldest building in GalenaRatcliff InnCarmi, Illinois1828ResidenceBuilt for Carmi founder James RatcliffHodges HouseCarrollton, Illinois1829ResidenceOldest house in CarrolltonJohn Patton Log CabinLexington, Illinois1829ResidenceOne of the oldest buildings in McLean County, IllinoisBeecher HallJacksonville, Illinois1829-1830College BuildingOldest college building in Illinois and the first built in the stateMermaid House HotelLebanon, Illinois1830HotelBuilt by Lyman Adams. Visited by Charles Dickens in 1842.Noble–Seymour–Crippen HouseChicago, Illinois1833ResidenceThe oldest building in ChicagoJohn B. Harper HousePalestine, Illinoisc. 1833ResidenceThe oldest building in Crawford CountyVandalia State HouseVandalia, Illinois1836Capitol BuildingOldest state capitol building in IllinoisHenry B. Clarke HouseChicago, Illinois1836ResidenceCaspar Ott CabinDeerfield, Illinois1837ResidenceOldest building in Lake CountyJohn C. Flanagan House MuseumPeoria, Illinois1837ResidenceOldest building in Peoria, Illinoishttps://peoriahistoricalsociety.org/house-museums/ (accessed Dec. 3, 2025)Mother Rudd House and InnGurnee, Illinois1841-1843ResidenceOldest building in Warren TownshipThebes CourthouseThebes, Illinois1848CourthouseOldest building in Alexander County Wingert House Chicago 1854 ResidenceOld St. Patrick's ChurchChicago1854ChurchOldest surviving church in Chicago Iglehart House Chicago 1857 Residence Elias Cosper Home Rockford 1867 Residence University Hall Evanston 1869 College building Oldest building on the campus of Northwestern University Chicago Water Tower Chicago 1869 Utility Chicago Avenue Pumping Station Chicago 1869 Utility Delaware Building Chicago 1872 Commercial Berghoff Buildings Chicago 1872 Commercial Three buildings currently occupied by the Berghoff restaurant Page Brothers Building Chicago 1872 Commercial The building features Chicago's last remaining cast iron façade Haskell-Barker-Atwater Buildings Chicago 1875-1877 Commercial Harker Hall Urbana 1877 College building Oldest building in use on the campus of the University of Illinois Manhattan Building Chicago 1889–1891 Commercial Oldest surviving skyscraper in the world. Currently residential condominiums.

See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois History of Illinois Oldest buildings in the United States

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