Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Almost Impossible Question

Who founded the oldest city in the United States?

The first person to post the correct answer gets the prize on next Wednesday.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

St. Augustine, Florida was the oldest city in the United States.
And it was founded by the Spanish under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.

kris_10 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kris_10 said...

the oldest city which became part of the United States in 1776 would be Jamestown, Virginia, which was founded in 1607.

If you're looking for the oldest city which is *currently* within the United States, that would be Cahokia, in west-central Illinois. It was founded in 650 AD.

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico was founded in 1000 AD.

Honolulu was founded about 1100 AD.

San Juan, Puerto Rico was founded in 1521 AD.

St. Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565 AD. It's called the "oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States"

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_cities_by_year_of_foundation

kris_10 said...

I forgot to write who founded Cahokia.. here is the history.

Cahokia was settled around 650 CE during the Late Woodland period. Mound building did not begin until about 1050 CE, at the beginning of the Mississippian cultural period. The inhabitants left no written records beyond symbols on pottery, shell, copper, wood, and stone. The city's original name is unknown.

The name "Cahokia" also refers to an unrelated clan of Illiniwek people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 1600s, long after Cahokia was abandoned. The living descendants of the Cahokia people associated with the Mound site are unknown, although many Native American groups are plausible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia

kris_10 said...

BUT
Jamestown, Virginia was settled in 1607. That is considered the beginning of the United States, because Florida was Spanish territory at the time.

so.. if that is the case here is some info about Jamestown.

Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607. It is commonly regarded as the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States. It was founded by the Virginia Company.

p.s. this is a very sticky question.. because there are so many possible answers..
:)