100 American towns founded before the Revolution

2. Jamestown, Virginia

Founded: 1607
Population: 10,333

3. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Founded: 1610
Population: 82,927

Santa Fe was founded by Spanish conquistadors, including Don Pedro de Peralta. Santa Fe is the oldest European settlement west of the Mississippi River.

4. Hampton, Virginia

Founded: 1610
Population: 136,789

Founded by English settlers, Hampton is located at mouth of James River.

5. Albany, New York

Founded: 1614
Population: 98,425

Dutch fur traders established the first European settlement in New York.

6. Plymouth, Massachusetts

Founded: 1620
Population: 58,216

Plymouth is where the Pilgrims landed after crossing the Atlantic to escape religious persecution in England. The first Thanksgiving celebration took place here.

7. New York, New York

Founded: 1624
Population: 8,461,961

Settled by the Dutch in 1624, the English took over in 1664 and named the town New York.

8. Salem, Massachusetts

Founded: 1626
Population: 42,804

Salem, famous for the witch trials in the late 17th century, was founded by colonial settlers.

9. Boston, Massachusetts

Founded: 1630
Population: 658,279

A group of 1,000 Puritan refugees led by John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley helped found what would become the biggest city in Massachusetts.

10. Cambridge, Massachusetts

Founded: 1630
Population: 108,757

Cambridge was settled by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Originally called New Towne, the name Cambridge was adopted in 1638.

11. Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Founded: 1630
Population: 21,458

Portsmouth was a sanctuary for those fleeing religious persecution in Massachusetts.

12. Lewes, Delaware

Founded: 1631
Population: 2,955

Located on Delaware Bay, it was first settled by the Dutch.

13. Windsor, Connecticut

Founded: 1633
Population: 29,044

Windsor was Connecticut’s first English settlement.

14. Wethersfield, Connecticut

Founded: 1634
Population: 26,396

One of Connecticut’s oldest towns settled by the English. Wethersfield experienced witch-trial hysteria in the 17th century.

15. Concord, Massachusetts

Founded: 1635
Population: 17,668

One of the places where the Revolutionary War began, Concord was settled by English colonists.

16. Hartford, Connecticut

Founded: 1636
Population: 124,320

Puritans led by the Rev. Thomas Hooker created a settlement on the Connecticut River.

17. Providence, Rhode Island

Founded: 1636
Population: 178,851

Roger Williams, banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for radical views, bought land from Native Americans and founded Providence.

18. Scituate, Massachusetts

Founded: 1636
Population: 5,471

Scituate was settled by people from the county of Kent in England. Scituate is derived from the Native American word Satuit, meaning “cold brook.

19. New Haven, Connecticut

Founded: 1638
Population: 130,405

Founded by Puritans, New Haven was one of America’s first planned towns.

20. Exeter, New Hampshire

Founded: 1638
Population: 9,022

Town founder Reverend John Wheelwright was an exile from Puritan Massachusetts. He bought land from Native Americans for the settlement.

21. Swedesboro, New Jersey

Founded: 1638
Population: 2,606

A southern New Jersey town was founded by a group of Swedes and Finns.

22. Newport, Rhode Island

Founded: 1639
Population: 24,570

Founded by English settlers led by strong-willed Anne Hutchinson, who was driven out of Massachusetts for her religious views.

23. Guilford, Connecticut

Founded: 1639
Population: 22,375

Native Americans sold land to Puritans led by Henry Whitfield.

24. Fairfield, Connecticut

Founded: 1639
Population: 59,404

Fairfield one of the four earliest towns founded by the English in Connecticut in the 17th century.

25. Braintree, Massachusetts

Founded: 1640
Population: 37,066

Braintree, named after the English town, was called Monoticut, an Algonquian word meaning “abundance.

26. Stamford, Connecticut

Founded: 1641
Population: 127,410

Founded by Puritans, Stamford became a manufacturing hub and is now home to multinational corporations.

27. Warwick, Rhode Island

Founded: 1642
Population: 81,881

Samuel Gorton founded Warwick after he bought the land from the Narragansett Native Americans.

28. Chester, Pennsylvania

Founded: 1644
Population: 34,056

Originally settled in 1644 by the Swedes, Quakers led by William Penn made it a colonial settlement in 1681. Chester is the oldest city in Pennsylvania.

29. Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts

Founded: 1645
Population: 5,136

Manchester-by-the-Sea, backdrop to many movies, was founded by English settlers. The name changed in 1990 to distinguish it from other towns named Manchester.

30. Yonkers, New York

Founded: 1646
Population: 199,725

Dutch founder Adrian Van der Donck was the first lawyer in New Netherlands colony that would become New York in 1644.

31. New London, Connecticut

Founded: 1646
Population: 27,218

New London, founded by English settlers, was the Connecticut colony’s first official port.

32. Andover, Massachusetts

Founded: 1646
Population: 9,194

English settlers from Andover, England settled in this part of Massachusetts. Andover is home to the prestigious prep school Phillips Academy.

33. Kittery, Maine

Founded: 1647
Population: 4,704

Kittery is the first incorporated town in Maine.

34. Marblehead, Massachusetts

Founded: 1649
Population: 20,363

The first non-Native American settlers were British subjects who came to present-day Marblehead from Salem to escape religious oppression from the Puritans.

35. Annapolis, Maryland

Founded: 1649
Population: 39,009

Home to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis was settled by the Puritans and originally called Providence.

36. New Castle, Delaware

Founded: 1651
Population: 5,372

New Castle was founded by the Dutch under Peter Stuyvesant. The original name of the town was Fort Casimir.

37. Chelmsford, Massachusetts

Founded: 1655
Population: 33,802

Chelmsford was founded by colonists from Concord and Woburn. It is located 24 miles north of Boston.

38. Staten Island, New York

Founded: 1661
Population: 475,558

The Dutch established a colony there in 1661. Staten Island derives from the Dutch name, Staaten Eylandt. The English seized the area in 1664 and renamed the Island in honor of the Duke of Richmond.

39. Stonington, Connecticut

Founded: 1662
Population: 973

Stonington was founded by Governor John Winthrop, Jr. who obtained a charter from England.

40. Elizabeth, New Jersey

Founded: 1664
Population: 128,042

English immigrants founded the settlement — originally called Elizabethtown — after buying the land from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans.

41. Greenwich, Connecticut

Founded: 1665
Population: 13,429

Settlers from Massachusetts were the first to purchase the patch of land that is now Greenwich, right between the Asamuck and Patomuck rivers.

42. Lyme, Connecticut

Founded: 1667
Population: 2,406

Lyme was named after Lyme Regis in England. The town separated from Saybrook in 1665 and was named Lyme in 1667.

43. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Founded: 1668
Population: 13,941

Sault Ste. Marie was founded by French settlers and is the oldest city in Michigan.

44. Charleston, South Carolina

Founded: 1670
Population: 129,888

King Charles II of England gave the Carolina territory to eight friends who helped restore the monarchy.

45. Edgartown, Massachusetts

Founded: 1671
Population: 649

Settled by English immigrants Thomas Mayhew Sr. and his son Thomas Jr.

46. Nantucket, Massachusetts

Founded: 1671
Population: 7,830

Nantucket was populated by the Wampanoag Native American tribe until the land was deeded to Thomas Mayhew Sr. and his son Thomas Jr.

47. Derby, Connecticut

Founded: 1675
Population: 12,755

English fur traders were among the first Europeans in the area. Native American tribes such as the Paugassetts and the Pootatucks had inhabited the area long before the English.

48. Peoria, Illinois

Founded: 1680
Population: 115,990

French explorers including Robert Cavalier Sieur de LaSalle founded Peoria, Illinois. Peoria is the name of the predominant Native American tribes in the Illinois confederacy.

49. Ysleta, Texas

Founded: 1680
Population: 9,232

Ysleta, now a section of El Paso, was founded by Franciscan missionaries and Spanish settlers.

50. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded: 1682
Population: 1,559,938

William Penn and the Quakers founded Philadelphia as a place of religious tolerance.

51. Presidio, Texas

Founded: 1683
Population: 4,051

A Spanish mission was established here after a Native American claimed to have seen a burning cross on the mountain of Presidio.

52. Princeton, New Jersey

Founded: 1683
Population: 30,168

Representatives of East Jersey and West Jersey met at a tavern to establish their boundary in 1683. From these negotiations emerged various counties and towns, including the western border of Princeton Township.

53. Waterbury, Connecticut

Founded: 1686
Population: 109,211

Waterbury took its official name in 1686 when it was admitted as the 28th town in the colony of Connecticut.

54. Falmouth, Massachusetts

Founded: 1686
Population: 3,730

Quakers led by Isaac Robinson settled the area. Falmouth takes its name from a town in England.

55. Danbury, Connecticut

Founded: 1687
Population: 83,890

English settlers migrated from Norwalk to Danbury, which was nicknamed Beantown for the proliferation of beans and other vegetables that grew there.

56. Kingston, New York

Founded: 1688
Population: 23,506

The Dutch and English battled for control of the region and the English prevailed. A grant establishing Kingston was approved in 1688.

57. Newark, New Jersey

Founded: 1693
Population: 280,139

New Jersey’s largest city was founded by Puritan settlers who left Connecticut and bought land from the Hackensack Native Americans.

58. Biloxi, Mississippi

Founded: 1699
Population: 45,271

French explorers led by Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville landed on the mainland at present-day Biloxi and established a settlement.

59. Lebanon, Connecticut

Founded: 1700
Population: 7,308

Lebanon was formed by a consolidation of various tracts of land, some of which were held by Native Americans, that were incorporated into one town.

60. Mobile, Alabama

Founded: 1702
Population: 193,717

The French established a continuing presence in 1702. Mobile was the oldest permanent settlement in the original Colony of French Louisiana and was its first capital before the French lost the city following the French and Indian War.

61. Groton, Connecticut

Founded: 1705
Population: 9,240

Groton was first settled by the English as part of New London. It became its own incorporated town in 1705.

62. Bath, North Carolina

Founded: 1705
Population: 249

Spanish colonists were given permission by King Philip V of Spain to establish a city.

63. Brookline, Massachusetts

Founded: 1705
Population: 59,180

Brookline, the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, was founded by English settlers. It separated from Boston in 1705.

64. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Founded: 1706
Population: 556,859

Spanish colonists were given permission by King Philip of Spain to establish a city.

65. Chestertown, Maryland

Founded: 1706
Population: 5,122

A British act promoting trade helped create Chestertown in the early 18th century.

66. Beaufort, North Carolina

Founded: 1709
Population: 4,039

Beaufort, founded by the English, was once the stomping ground of the pirate Blackbeard.

67. New Bern, North Carolina

Founded: 1710
Population: 30,075

New Bern, the birthplace of the soft drink Pepsi Cola, was founded by Baron Christopher de Graffenried of Switzerland.

68. Pembroke, Massachusetts

Founded: 1711
Population: 18,166

English settlers founded Pembroke, which claims to be the first colonial town to publicly rebel against the British Empire.

69. Lexington, Massachusetts

Founded: 1713
Population: 32,936

Lexington, where the Revolution began, was carved out of the agricultural region called Cambridge by colonists.

70. Oxford, Massachusetts

Founded: 1713
Population: 5,927

Oxford was initially settled by the French Protestant Huguenots. It is also the birthplace of Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross.

71. Natchitoches, Louisiana

Founded: 1714
Population: 18,402

French settlers led by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis founded the city, near the Natchitoches Native American village on the Red River.

72. Natchez, Mississippi

Founded: 1716
Population: 15,345

First settled by the French, Natchez is the oldest city established along the Mississippi River.

73. New Orleans, Louisiana

Founded: 1718
Population: 382,922

New Orleans, the “Crescent City” because it was built on a sharp bend of the Mississippi River, was founded by French settlers.

74. San Antonio, Texas

Founded: 1718
Population: 1,439,358

San Antonio got its name from Spanish settlers in 1691, but the city was not founded until 1718, when its first mission and first presidio were established.

75. Trenton, New Jersey

Founded: 1719
Population: 84,559

The city is named after one its leading landowners, William Trent, and was called “Trent-towne.

76. Walpole, Massachusetts

Founded: 1724
Population: 6,209

Walpole was settled by colonists and was named after pro-colonist British prime minister Sir Robert Walpole.

77. Kaskaskia, Illinois

Founded: 1725
Population: 20

The French incorporated the town that was given special rights by King Louis XV. Kaskaskia is located on Kaskaskia Island.

78. Provincetown, Massachusetts

Founded: 1727
Population: 2,680

Pilgrims landed in Provincetown Harbor and stayed in the area for five weeks before traveling on to Plymouth. The first permanent settlement in Provincetown was established nearly 100 years later.

79. Vincennes, Indiana

Founded: 1732
Population: 18,098

French fur traders founded Vincennes, the oldest city in Indiana.

80. Savannah, Georgia

Founded: 1733
Population: 144,717

English settlers led by General James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, which became Georgia’s first city.

81. Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

Founded: 1735
Population: 4,447

Ste. Genevieve was founded by French-Canadians. It was part of the “Illinois Country” that was in the region of the territory held by the French in North America.

82. Richmond, Virginia

Founded: 1737
Population: 216,773

Richmond, named after a suburb of London, was founded in 1737 by Colonel William Byrd II after visiting the site four years earlier.

83. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Founded: 1741
Population: 75,110

A small group of Moravians, a Protestant denomination seeking religious freedom, settled on the banks of the Lehigh River and established a town.

84. Coventry, Rhode Island

Founded: 1741
Population: 35,014

Colonists led by Samuel Gorton purchased land from the Miantonomi Native Americans and incorporated the land into a township named for Coventry, England.

85. Nashua, New Hampshire

Founded: 1746
Population: 87,279

The first settlers in Nashua were colonial English land speculators and soldiers. There was much fighting between the colonists and Native Americans in this region.

86. Bennington, Vermont

Founded: 1749
Population: 8,945

Bennington was the first Vermont town to receive a town grant when it was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth. Bennington was the first town settled west of the Green Mountains.

87. Alexandria, Virginia

Founded: 1749
Population: 151,473

Scottish and English merchants wanted to improve shipping in the region and they petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to create a town, which became Alexandria.

88. Westminster, Vermont

Founded: 1751
Population: 307

Westminster, founded by English colonists, was part of New York before it became part of Vermont. It is the oldest town in Vermont.

89. Grafton, Vermont

Founded: 1754
Population: 679

The town was founded in 1754 and was originally called Thomlinson, after English business agent John Thomlinson. It was later changed to Grafton.

90. Hanover, New Hampshire

Founded: 1761
Population: 8,482

Colonists from Connecticut were granted a charter for about seven square miles to create a town that would become the home of Dartmouth College.

91. Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Founded: 1762
Population: 1,578

Colonial settlers migrating into Shenandoah Valley founded Shepherdstown.

92. Romney, West Virginia

Founded: 1762
Population: 2,301

Romney was founded by colonial settlers and is West Virginia’s oldest town.

93. Allentown, Pennsylvania

Founded: 1762
Population: 119,624

Allentown was originally called Northamptontown by its founder William Allen, chief justice of colonial Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.

94. Charlotte, North Carolina

Founded: 1768
Population: 808,834

Colonists named the town after King George III’s wife, Charlotte, who was born in what is now Germany.

95. San Diego, California

Founded: 1769
Population: 1,374,812

San Diego was founded by Spanish missionaries and it was the first settlement by Europeans in what would become California.

96. Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Founded: 1770s
Population: 5,771

Prairie du Chien was founded by French missionaries, explorers, and fur traders.

97. Ellicott, Maryland

Founded: 1772
Population: 70,780

Brothers Joseph, Andrew, and John Ellicott who were Quakers founded Ellicott’s Mills after buying property west of Baltimore.

98. Harrodsburg, Kentucky

Founded: 1774
Population: 8,409

Harrodsburg was founded by James Harrod, and claims to be the oldest permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.

99. Tucson, Arizona

Founded: 1775
Population: 527,586

Tucson was founded by Irishman Hugh O’Conor for the Spanish crown. The settlement was originally called San Agustin de Toixon, a name shortened and modified to Tucson.