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^ Yes it's an intriguing question! Lots of old wooden buildings in MA, I'm surprised, I expected most of the oldest structures to be made of brick or stone. Wood doesn't usually last a heck of a long time.
Wood is very abundant all over the Eastern United States and Canada even today. It is therefore not suprising that the early colonists often chose to make their homes with wood instead of the more expensive brick or stone. On the othe hand, when brick was used it had something of a prestige factor because it was relatively rare. This is why you see colonial government buildings in brick.
Britain in contrast has more buildings in brick and stone because much of their forests were cut down in the Middle Ages. This is also why you may see thatch roofs in older homes in England instead of the wood roofs in the older homes in America.
I would suspect though that they may not have been as cohesively connected based on their location relative to the old part of Boston.
Whereas Northern Liberties and Southwark (Basically Queen Village/Pennsport/Bella Vista) ,both also in the top 10 for 1790, are the two adjacent neighborhoods to Old City/Society Hill which is the oldest part of Philly
Agree. Salem and Marblehead were not connected to Boston at all in 1790, while Northern Liberties and Southwark were extensions of Philly in 1790. My point was that Eastern Massachusetts has a lot of urban (as opposed to rural farmhouses and the like) colonial architecture outside of Boston. Salem and Marblehead may have been preserved better than Boston's has there's less incentive to tear down old buildings for something denser or more modern. Here are some photos of Marblehead:
Yeah those lists aren't complete by any means. But in regards to the New York one--I knew about and vistied some older colonial/Dutch-era homes preserved in Brooklyn and Queens, but I never realized how many 17th and 18th Century homes remained in Staten Island. That's interesting, I'll have to check some of those out some time.
Its funny you mentioned that because when I was looking at the NY list and comparing it to PA and MASS lists, I was struck about how many Dutch names you see way into the late 1700s and even the 1800s. And of course many Dutch families made their mark in US history including the Van Burens, the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts etc.
Regarding Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. There are a suprising number of Dutch colonials (mostly farmhouses) in these boroughs, including some of the rare 1600s buildings. There is of course the Wyckoff house :: The Historic House Trust of New York City :: Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum , possibly the oldest in New York. However there are others like the Riker House Riker Home :: Welcome to the Lent-Riker-Smith Homestead! built in Queens built a year or two later and is not even on the wickapedia list. Some houses are not even landmarked yet and exact numbers are not known.
Agree. Salem and Marblehead were not connected to Boston at all in 1790, while Northern Liberties and Southwark were extensions of Philly in 1790. My point was that Eastern Massachusetts has a lot of urban (as opposed to rural farmhouses and the like) colonial architecture outside of Boston. Salem and Marblehead may have been preserved better than Boston's has there's less incentive to tear down old buildings for something denser or more modern. Here are some photos of Marblehead:
Makes sense there are a lot of even smaller towns that have some interesting architecture all through the general region.
This is a building I always found to be pretty cool in a little town outpost just north of Philly in Newtown PA. The revolutionary troops stopped through there on their wau to Trenton.
I absolutely loved Society Hill when I went to Philly. I've said this many times before on this site but all I could think when I saw it was "this is Beacon Hill on a grid".
One thing I've noticed about the Colonial brick row homes of these cities is Philadelphia seems to favor a white trim (shudders, etc.) while Boston seems to prefer black for the most part.
This link is similar to the OPs link, but for the top 20 Metros instead. I think it's cool that Minneapolis used to be the #9 metro, larger than Detroit, Washington DC and San Francisco.
Boston has some colonial architecture but it has a lot more victorian. Most buildings in the Back Bay are victorian and the South End has the largest contiguous collection of victorian architecture in the country.
Boston has some colonial architecture but it has a lot more victorian. Most buildings in the Back Bay are victorian and the South End has the largest contiguous collection of victorian architecture in the country.
I believe Philadelphia also has more victorian than colonial.
Boston has some colonial architecture but it has a lot more victorian. Most buildings in the Back Bay are victorian and the South End has the largest contiguous collection of victorian architecture in the country.
I believe the vast majority of cities on the East Coast are going to have much more Victorian than colonial because virtually every city and town had a much smaller population during the colonial era than during the Victorian era.
Philadelphia at the end of the colonial era within today's city boundaries: ~40,000 people
...at the beginning of the Victorian era: ~250,000 people
...at the end of the Victorian era: ~1,300,000 people
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