List of oldest buildings in Alabama Facts for Kids

Alabama is a state with a long and interesting history! Many years ago, Native Americans lived here. Later, people from France, Britain, Spain, and eventually the United States came to settle. Because of all this history, Alabama has some really old buildings that are still standing today.

This article will tell you about the oldest buildings you can still see in Alabama. Some of their exact ages are a little bit of a guess. Scientists use special methods like studying tree rings in the wood (called dendrochronology) or looking closely at how the buildings were made. They also use old records to figure out when these places were built.

The city of Mobile was started in 1702 by the French, making it one of the first European settlements in the area. While no original buildings from that very early time are still standing in Alabama, there's a reconstructed fort called Fort Toulouse that shows what things might have looked like. The oldest buildings we have today mostly appeared when American settlers moved into the Tennessee River valley, especially after Huntsville was founded in 1805.

To be on this list, a building must be:

Built in 1819 or earlier (when Alabama became a state); or
The oldest building in a certain area, a big city, or the oldest of its kind (like a government building or a specific style).

List of Old Buildings in Alabama

Building	Image	Location	First built	Type	Notes
Mississippian Mounds, e.g. Moundville		Throughout state	800–1600	Earthen mounds	While no original Native American houses made of wood are left, many large earth mounds built by ancient people are still here. For example, Mound B at the Moundville Site is 58 feet tall!
Joel Eddins House		Huntsville	1808	House	This is the oldest building in Alabama that we have records for. It's a log cabin that shows how early European settlers built homes. It was moved to the Burritt on the Mountain museum in 2007.
Jude-Crutcher House		Huntsville	1812	House	This is the second oldest building and the oldest "dogtrot" style log house still standing in Alabama. A dogtrot house has two parts connected by a covered open hallway. The open hallway here has been closed in.
Poplar Grove (LeRoy Pope House)		Huntsville	1813	House	This is the third oldest building and the oldest one made of brick or stone in Alabama. It was built by LeRoy Pope, who is known as the "Father of Huntsville." A famous general, Andrew Jackson, even visited here!
Urquhart House		Huntsville	1813	House	This house is also tied for the third oldest building in the state, just like Poplar Grove.
Perkins-Winston House		Huntsville	1815	House	This is another early home from the city of Huntsville.
William Reed House		Birmingham	1816	House	An early home in the Birmingham area.
Hill of Howth		Boligee	1816	House	This was an early home in the Boligee area.
Rev Thomas Newton House		Ashville	1817	House	An early home in Ashville.
Lucas Tavern (Old Alabama Town)		Montgomery	1818	Tavern/Inn	This is the oldest tavern (a place where travelers could eat and stay) still standing in Alabama. It's also the oldest building in the city of Montgomery. A very famous French general, the Marquis de Lafayette, stayed here in 1825! You can see it now at Old Alabama Town.
John Looney House		Ashville	1818	House	This is the oldest two-story "dogtrot" house in Alabama.
Cedarwood		Moundville	1818	House	This might be the earliest "plantation" home still standing in the Black Belt area of Alabama. It has been moved and fixed up at The University of West Alabama.
Hickman Cabin (Joseph Wheeler Plantation)		Wheeler	1818	House	This is another log dogtrot home.
Erskine House		Huntsville	1818	House	An early home in Huntsville.
Phelps-Jones House		Huntsville	1818	House	Another early home in Huntsville.
The Molett House	The Molett House	Orrville	1819	House	This is the oldest house in Alabama that is still owned and lived in by the same family who built it!
Sadler House		McCalla	1819	House	This home might have started as a small log room around 1819 and was made bigger later.
Weeden House		Huntsville	1819	House	Another early home in Huntsville.
McGuire-Strickland House		Tuscaloosa	1820	House	This is the oldest building in the city of Tuscaloosa.
Goode–Hall House		Town Creek	1824	House	This large house is a great example of a style called "Jeffersonian Palladian architecture" in the South.
G&J Sutherland Store		Tuscumbia	1824	Store	This might be the oldest store building still standing in Alabama. The outside of the white building in the picture has changed over time.
Masonic Lodge #3		Perdue Hill	1824	Courthouse/Masonic Lodge	This building used to be a courthouse and a meeting place for a group called the Masons. It was first built in Claiborne, which was a big settlement back then. The Marquis de Lafayette (the same French general!) visited and dedicated it in 1825. It was moved to its current spot in 1884.
Indian Springs Baptist Church		McWilliams	1825	Church	This might be the oldest church building still standing in Alabama.
Old Rock Jail		Rockford	1825	Jail	This is the oldest jail building in Alabama.
Lassiter House		Autaugaville	1825	House	This house is one of the earliest examples of an "I-house" style in Alabama. An I-house is usually two stories tall, one room deep, and at least two rooms wide.
Vincent-Doan House		Mobile	1827	House	This is the oldest building in the city of Mobile. It shows the influence of French colonial building styles.
John McMahon House		Courtland	1828	House	This house is important because it shows how building styles from the East Coast of the United States were brought to Alabama by settlers from Virginia.
Bride's Hill		Wheeler	1828	House	This is the oldest example of a "Tidewater-type cottage" in Alabama. This style often has a central hallway.
Dancy-Polk House		Decatur	1829	House	This is the oldest building in the city of Decatur.
Collins-Marston House		Mobile	1832	House	This might be the oldest "creole cottage" style house still standing in Alabama. Creole cottages are a type of house often found in the Gulf Coast region.
Old State Bank		Decatur	1833	Bank	This was the very first state bank in Alabama, and it's the oldest bank building still standing.
Barton Academy		Mobile	1836	School	This was the first public school building in the state of Alabama.
Somerville Courthouse		Somerville	1837	Courthouse	This is the oldest courthouse made of brick or stone still standing in Alabama. It looks a lot like Alabama's first state house, which was in Cahawba.
Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens		Birmingham	1845	House	This is the oldest building in the city of Birmingham.
Langdon Hall		Auburn	1846	Church	This is the oldest building in the city of Auburn.
Old Shelby County Courthouse	Old Shelby County Courthouse	Columbiana	1854	Courthouse	This was the original courthouse for Shelby County. A bigger courthouse was built in 1908, but this old one is still here and is now the Shelby County Museum and Archives.
Bryce Hospital		Tuscaloosa	1861	Mental Health Institution	This was Alabama's first and oldest hospital for mental health care.
Rickwood Field		Birmingham	1910	Baseball park	This is the oldest professional baseball park still standing in the entire United States!