NationStates Jolt Archive

Just interested in the history of different places. My town was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066 and has archeological evidence of settlements in the area dating as far back as 97ad. Does anyone else live in a historically significant area?

I come from Northamptonshire odds are most of the buildings are made by dinosaurs :D

Reykjavík, settled in 870 A.D. The spot was chosen randomly by dumping wooden poles from a ship and settling where they came to shore.

Philadelphia's like 300 or 400 years old i think, or what ever 1680 - 2007 is

I live Spring Lake Park, Minnesota (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Lake_Park%2C_Minnesota), not sure how old it is, though.

Philadelphia's like 300 or 400 years old i think, or what ever 1680 - 2007 is

327 years

Reykjavík, settled in 870 A.D. The spot was chosen randomly by dumping wooden poles from a ship and settling where they came to shore.

Ohh what's it like there? I've always wanted to visit.

London,UK, so really old.

A town on the same site as Newcastle was founded by Hadrian in the second century AD - Pons Aelius.

Newcastle itself was founded by William the Conker's son - when he built a New Castle - not very imaginative, these Normans.

Melbourne: 1835

Reykjavík, settled in 870 A.D. The spot was chosen randomly by dumping wooden poles from a ship and settling where they came to shore.

See that's a cool way of choosing a site - guarantees driftwood, too!

Just interested in the history of different places. My town was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066 and has archeological evidence of settlements in the area dating as far back as 97ad. Does anyone else live in a historically significant area?

The town I grew up in has a mixedf historical record. It was part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colony in the 1820s. But the city proper wasn't founded until the 1940s. Thank you Dow Chemical!

The city where I now live, Osaka, dates back to the 660s. (And that means that it predates those snooty up-starts over in Kyoto by more than 100 years, as well as both cities mentioned already... ;))

Edit: dangit! You Brits and your BC cities!!!!

Eindhoven got city rights in 1232 although most of the town is quite new :)

Nobody out there from the Middle East? Those towns have got to set the records for oldest. Jaffa springs to mind immediately.

I live in L.A........nothing here is allowed to get over 40, whether its the buildings or the women.

The town I was born in has a settlement there before the romans showed up. They wrote about it. Nobody knows when it was founded or what it was called though. The only thing that is certain is that the people ate seaweed.

It's possible that it is really old though because archeologists have found flint tools there dating back 5000+ years.

The Ohlone tribes had settled the region for a while before the actual mission that 'settled' San Francisco was established in 1776. So, what we know as San Francisco is 1776 (compared to some European entries, a baby), human settlement, much older.

All of this according to this (http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/sfh2.html) because I fail at local history, apparently...(to be fair, I just moved there...though I was living in Santa Cruz before and before that a suburb of Oakland...shutup)

The town I grew up in has a mixedf historical record. It was part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colony in the 1820s. But the city proper wasn't founded until the 1940s. Thank you Dow Chemical!

The city where I now live, Osaka, dates back to the 660s. (And that means that it predates those snooty up-starts over in Kyoto by more than 100 years, as well as both cities mentioned already... ;))

Edit: dangit! You Brits and your BC cities!!!!

But how many cities in Japan weren't reconstructed after 1945.

We were rowing one of those little boats in the river that runs through Hiroshima. My wife displayed her usual grasp of the obvious when she said "Just think, nothing around here is more than 40 years old." Yes, it was 1985 when we visited.

Ohh what's it like there? I've always wanted to visit.
I find it nice and can't imagine living anywhere else. I guess the only bad thing that can be said about living here is that it's rather small and the winters get a bit tiresome because we only get 4 hours of daylight and it can get very cold (and then it reverses so we don't get any darkness in the summer). But the really interesting sights aren't in Reykjavík, the mountains and glaciers and stuff is further east.

Edit: Oh, and it's also the most expensive place in the world. We had the dubious honour of beating Japan at that game last month.

Belfast? Well, people have been living and building in these parts for about 5,000 years, but it only really became a proper city when it overtook Newry for size and industry sometime in the C19th.

Edit: granted town status 1613, granted city status 1888.

The town I grew up in has a mixedf historical record. It was part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colony in the 1820s. But the city proper wasn't founded until the 1940s. Thank you Dow Chemical!

The city where I now live, Osaka, dates back to the 660s. (And that means that it predates those snooty up-starts over in Kyoto by more than 100 years, as well as both cities mentioned already... ;))

Edit: dangit! You Brits and your BC cities!!!!

So it is about the same age as Glasgow then :)

Wiki says my hometown was incorporated on December 13, 1819, making it 187 years, 1 month, and 20 days old. However, it also says that it has been home to various Native American settlements for centuries, so I can't really say for sure exactly how old it is.

It's a shame no-one is from skara brae.

It's possible that it is really old though because archeologists have found flint tools there dating back 5000+ years.

Flint tools? Meh. We got a henge from back then: Clicky. (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=belfast&ie=UTF8&ll=54.540281,-5.949633&spn=0.002259,0.006781&t=h&om=1)

The fact that it is currently used primarily for dogging is neither here nor there.

I find it nice and can't imagine living anywhere else. I guess the only bad thing that can be said about living here is that it's rather small and the winters get a bit tiresome because we only get 4 hours of daylight and it can get very cold (and then it reverses so we don't get any darkness in the summer). But the really interesting sights aren't in Reykjavík, the mountains and glaciers and stuff is further east.


And the wimmim? *nudge* *nudge* knowwotImean?, a nods as good as a wink to a blind bat, *nudge* *nudge*!:D

"La ciudad de Caracas, fue fundada el 25 de julio de 1567 por Diego De Losada con el nombre de Santiago de León de Caracas."

The city of Caracas was founded the july 27th of 1567 by Diego de Losada, with the official name of Santiago de León de Caracas. The origin of the name is not exactly clear, although several historians think it was either the indian name of a common plant in the valley, or the indian idiom for "Cannibal Witch".

Even so, there were a large indian settlement of the Teques caribe tribe in the spot long before the spanish conquerors arrived. It was entirely leveled by the mission of Losada, leaving no survivors due to the aggressive and untamed nature of the indians.

Flint tools? Meh. We got a henge from back then: Clicky. (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=belfast&ie=UTF8&ll=54.540281,-5.949633&spn=0.002259,0.006781&t=h&om=1)

The fact that it is currently used primarily for dogging is neither here nor there.

That's pretty cool.

The place I live specifically came into existence in 1939 to show off. (http://www.sfgov.org/site/treasureisland_index.asp?id=285)

It was an International Fair, a Naval Base, and is now low income housing waiting to become high income housing when we'll be given the boot. Right now there is no charge for utilities because there is no way to measure them. That frees up a lot of closet cultivation, which makes the name of the real island we're attached to (Yerba Buena, or 'Good Herb') a little amusing.

And the wimmim? *nudge* *nudge* knowwotImean?, a nods as good as a wink to a blind bat, *nudge* *nudge*!:D

:D very nice...At least in my opinion. And if you're into drinking and clubbing, it's *the* place to go. Though, prices are insane, a pint is between 4 or 5 £

Midlothian, VA is the home of the oldest coal mine in Virginia, and the first railroad (26 miles long, from the mine to Richmond) in the new world. Midlothian is now a soccer mom's paradise with nothing else being impressive. I need to move out of here.

Apparently the place I live at the moment was founded as a settlement in 673AD.

My family home is in a place that is well known for neolithic settlements in East Anglia.

Porto Alegre: 1742. Pretty new.

The place I live in was an established settlement at least as far back as the time the English Channel was formed, which makes it as old as the land mass of Great Britain. For some reason the place name is not recorded in the Doomsday Book, although some of the nearby villages are.

Nakkila is 145 years old.

Southampton, NY: The town was founded when settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts established residence on lands obtained from local Native Americans in 1640.

But this is my hometown: Sag Harbor was founded in 1707. It is a town with a history of whaling, earning a mention in the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville. It was the first designated point of entry for customs in New York, and once a busier port than New York City. After the decline of whaling, Sag Harbor served as home to various industries, the last of which was the Bulova Watchcase Factory, which closed in 1981.

Sag Harbor was also author John Steinbeck's residence from 1955 until his death in 1968. The Sag Harbor-North Haven Bridge is notable as the site of Pop artist Ray Johnson's presumed suicide in 1995 as well as two abortive suicide attempts by monologist Spalding Gray, in September 2002 and October 2003.

1880 something. Pluto was discovered here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagstaff,_Arizona) until it was just recently undiscovered. Bastards. :p

Hamilton was a native American settlement for a long time until Europeans settled in it shortly after the War of 1812 so that would be about 190 years probably

My town was founded in 1636. I feel like such a n00b. :(

Trenton, New Jersey founded 1719. Capital of the US for two months. November and December of 1784

My town of Herne Bay was first recorded as the village of Hyrne circa 1100. We do have some Roman ruins of a watchtower about a mile east of the town so we have been sttled for quite a while.

Albany, New York is built on the site of the Dutch Fort Orange, and its surrounding community of Beverwyck. The English acquired the site from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed it Albany, in honor of the Duke of Albany. A 1686 document issued by Thomas Dongan granted Albany an official charter.

The town I actually live in was settled by my ancestors in 1636. It was founded in 1673, and then part of it was broken off to make Westerlo. The house I live in was built about 180 years ago, when the land was a farm.

The first recorded settlements date back to 38 b.c.

Cambridge, pretty old methinks.

Pre-Roman it seems (according to Wiki).

Was settled by an Irishman in 1756.. so 251 years old.

My town was founded in 1636. I feel like such a n00b. :(


I'm n00bier than you :)

From a quick trawl of some websites about the city where I live it appears that while there is evidence of human activity dating back to 8,000 years BC, according to legend the city itself was founded in 863 BC.

From the top of my head my city was founded in 1854, so not very old.

Southampton has been a settlement since the stone age.

the Romans had a town here and there are often arheological digs going on

so, quite a while...


Although Stone Age settlements are known to have existed in the area, the first permanent settlement was established by the Romans. Known as Clausentum, it was an important trading port for the large Roman towns of Winchester and Salisbury.

The Anglo-Saxons moved the centre of the town across the River Itchen to its present location, and it remained an important port. At the time, it was centred around what is now the St Mary's area, and the settlement was known as Hamwic. This name was later to evolve into Hamtun, and later still to Hampton.

The Viking King Canute the Great is supposed to have defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready here in 1014 and been crowned here, and his fabled attempt to "command" the tide to halt may have taken place in Southampton. However, its prosperity was assured following the Norman Conquest in 1066, when it became the major port of transit between Winchester (then the capital of England) and Normandy.

By the 13th Century, Southampton had become a leading port, and was particularly involved in the wool trade. The Wool House was built in 1417 as a warehouse for the medieval wool trade with Flanders and Italy. This building is today used as the Maritime Museum, and can be found near Town Quay. It includes an exhibition concerning the RMS Titanic.

Bowls was first played regularly on the Southampton Old Bowling Green adjacent to God's House Hospital in 1299. It is the world's oldest surviving bowling green.

The town was sacked in 1338 by the French

There are settlements here going back to the Bronze Age. There's a 5,000 year old henge about half a mile from my house, actually.

A village grew up around a crossing of the River Farset (where Bridge Street is now, if anybody knows Belfast). It wasn't until the 17th C that it really took off with the plantation, becoming a merchant town, then with the industrial revolution a huge town before being made officially a city in the 1880s.

It's funny; the River Farset, the reason for the city's existence and also gave it its name, now runs through a drain underneath High Street. And High Street, with Bridge Street off it, is still one of the major streets in the city. So it's been very much the centre of the city since it was just a village, which is nice.

OK, yea, I know you just asked for age of the city, not history, but it's only been a city since 1880-something, and that wouldn't really do it justice.

My home town was first mentioned in documents in 1196 but is older than that.

The city I live in right now was first mentioned as a village in 953 although archeological finds can be dated back to the 7th century. It became a city in the 2nd half of the 12th century. Its university was founded 1734.

edinburgh has been the capital of scotland since 1437 but there have been references to a hill fort here since at least the 1st century AD. reference to a settlement outwith the fort was first made in a royal charter in 1124.

jersey recently celebrated it's 800th anniversary of autonomy from France. It is thought that the capital, st helier was founded sometime during the roman occupation of gaul.

Current: Boston, 1630, making it 377
Previous: Berlin, CT, 1785, making it 222 (that is when Berlin became a town...it was settled as Farmington, Worthington, and Kensington a while before)
Way back in the day: Meriden, CT, 1727 for a seperate meeting house (280 years) 1806 for seperate township (201 years), 1867 for city status (140 years), but was settled before any of these dates as part of Wallingford

All had indian settlements, but no dates were recorded that I know of.

My hometown, Coram, NY, on Long Island was founded in 1685. NYC was founded in 1624.

My home, Santiago de Chile, founded on 1541, my birth place Antofagasta founded on 1868.

The town of Coatzacoalcos was founded in 1522 by Gonzalo de Sandoval, it became a city in 1911. However, the place was already settled and it was a provincial capital for the Olmecs, making it between 2000 and 2500 years old.

My town goes back to 1817 in an area that was all swampy. Its known as the first official city of Illinois.

Natives have lived around this area for like forever and a day. We are noot to far from many mounded sites, such as cahokia mounds, dating back to the mississippian culture.

Toronto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto) was originally founded as Town of York in 1793 and renamed to 'Toronto' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto%27s_name) in 1834, the year of the Upper Canada rebellion, 33 years before Confederation in 1867. :D

It does have an earlier existence, but in a smaller sense, dating back to at 1695.

We had also been the capital on two brief occasions before Ottawa became the official capital.

Toronto was twice for brief periods the capital of the united Province of Canada first from 1849-1852, following unrest in Montreal and later 1856-1858 after which Quebec became capital until just a year prior to Confederation, since then it has been Ottawa.

I'm in, what is considered 'Old Toronto'.

All the towns around me were started in the 1850s and 60s. My village is older then Canada. :)

All the towns around me were started in the 1850s and 60s. My village is older then Canada. :)

We became the Dominion of Canada in 1867, but we existed previously as Upper and Lower Canada (later to become Canada East and Canada West), and before that as New France...

Just interested in the history of different places. My town was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066 and has archeological evidence of settlements in the area dating as far back as 97ad. Does anyone else live in a historically significant area?

George Washington passed through once. Of course, then it was more of a village

I dunno. I think the native people have been around for a while. White people, maybe two hundred years? Less than that? God, I don't care. I'm getting out of here as soon as I can.

The town I'm in now is from sometime in the 1800s. Maybe a farm here and there before then.

Looks like the first fortified settlement was made on the site of today's Warsaw in the 9th/10th century, while itself it was created in 1281. That makes it 726 years old.

It was founded in 87 A.D. and was the capital of England (well... Danelaw) when that craziness was around (when it was Jorvik).

And we had a mini-holocaust in 1190, which is why there are still very, very few Jews living in York, and no Synagogue. We do, however, have a really good Cathedral.

It was also the capital of Yorkshire when we had the War of the Roses (which came up again at Leeds Fest, oddly, it seems the Lancastrians still care).

Overall - it's quite historic indeed.

East Providence. Rather old. I'm right near Roger Williams's spring.

Sarajevo itself is among the "younger" cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the area was populated since the Neolithic. There are remains of Neolithic settlements in Butmir suburb, as well as some Illyrian villages. During Roman times, there was a town and a spa called Aquae Sulphurae in what is today the Ilidža suburb. Slavs built a citadel in 1263, none of which remains today. The Ottomans founded a city called Bosna-Saraj (later to become Sarajevo) in the 1450s or 1460s. It almost dissapeared after a raid by Habsburg prince Eugene of Savoy in 1697, but was rebuilt and stands until today. Through various occupations it was a capital of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian provinces, and during the Yugoslav Kingdom it was the seat of Drina region. After WWII it was established as a capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I personally have absolutely no idea. All I know is that it was around in the middle ages, where it made a useful waypoint between London and Portsmouth.

I don't live in a town or a city, I live in a patch.

Maidenhead, UK.
There's been a settlement in the area since Saxon times and a settlement with a different name but on the same site appears in the Domesday book.
Its main claims to fame, people being rude about it:

Jerome K Jerome (Three Men in a Boat)
Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy hotels, patronised chiefly by dudes and ballet girls. It is the witch’s kitchen from which go forth those demons of the river – steam- launches.

John Betjeman (Slough)

It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead

And talk of sports and makes of cars
In various bogus Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.

It's not really that bad.

The town is mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1066. Became a major trading port in the 12th century due to its close links with London and is also the burial place of Pocahontas.

Turku, Finland...

Dates back to stoneage. Whatever that means in various parts of Europe.

Well, Castle old and monastry and Cathedral founded in 1240's. Robbed from its rightful place as of Finland's capital in 1809.

Just interested in the history of different places. My town was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066 and has archeological evidence of settlements in the area dating as far back as 97ad. Does anyone else live in a historically significant area?

My county is 337 years old, my town about 300 years old.

The nearest city (a few miles away and across the Va/NC state line) is about 40 years old, though it's actually been around 400 years or so.

Markham, Ontario.
Suburb north of Toronto.
First settled in 1794 by a German guy called William Berzcy.
Tis 213 years old this year.

Northolt...also mentioned in the doomsday book, but there is evidence of a Saxon village dating to the 8th century.

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

Warsaw is very old.

I was born in Glenfinnan, Scotland near the shores of Loch Shiel.

147 years old sometime this year.

Brisbane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brisbane) used to be populated by Aboriginal people for quite a long time. Then white people explored the area for a bit, and founded a penal colony in Redcliffe in 1824. And in 1838, they opened the place up for free settlers as well.

Hamburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg#History) (the place I was born) on the other hand developed around the Hammaburg, which was a fortress built by Charlemagne to protect his realms against the Saxons in 808. Then Vikings destroyed it a few times (and so did everyone else by the look of it), but they kept rebuilding the place. There are still some remains of the old Hammaburg somewhere in the city, or so I've heard. Never went looking for them though.

Coleraine. Oldest evidence of a settlement in the whole of Ireland.

Earliest evidence=7000 BC (Mesolithic)

Saint Patrick mentions it=450-500 AD

Main town built in Ulster Plantations=1600's

So overall ~9000 years old. Top that:D

So overall ~9000 years old. Top that:D
As I said, Aboriginals lived in this area for a long time...

Sorry you must've posted when I was writing and I didn't see yours.

How long is a long time anyway?
It also depends on how old you believe the earth is and how long humans have been here.


Earth= 6.5 billion years and humans since 250,000 BC

Or Biblicly= 6000-8000 IIRC

How long is a long time anyway?
I suppose the question is whether previous human population in the area really counts as how old this city is. Because if there are break-ups in the population, or the city basically changes completely (say from a neolithic settlement to a Roman town).

Either way, they reckon Aboriginal peoples came to Australia around 40,000 years ago, maybe a bit earlier. And since then they've had a pretty much continuous culture with not a whole lot of change. And the Yuggera people, who lived around Brisbane actually built houses and stuff, they weren't nomads like the Aboriginals from the Outback.

Coleraine. Oldest evidence of a settlement in the whole of Ireland.

Earliest evidence=7000 BC (Mesolithic)

Saint Patrick mentions it=450-500 AD

Main town built in Ulster Plantations=1600's

So overall ~9000 years old. Top that:D

there's some stone age stuff on jersey. evidence of mammoth hunters anyway. i guess that would be palaeolithic but i alway get mixed up with the earlier chronologies, my interest is generally late neolithic to early iron age.

I was being more specific by naming a settlement. The settlement was called Mount Sandel.

I was being more specific by naming a settlement. The settlement was called Mount Sandel.

alright, it's called La Cotte de St. Brelade. but i'm cheating really cuz it's only a cave, but then i guess that's as far as they got settlement-wise in those days.
http://www.prehistoricjersey.net/La_Cotte_de_St_Brelade.shtml

it seems it was probably just a shelter though, rather than a permanent settment. although there's bound to be some sort of settlement around there, perhaps flooded by rising see levels. according to an article i found on JSTOR the material culture is Mousterian, so they were Homo neanderthalis not sapiens.

My town's official motto (http://www.bry94.fr/bry/6.htm) says it all: "Moult viel que Paris".

For those of us who don't speak Medieval French, that means: "Much older than Paris". Paris just happens to be a neighbour which grew a little more than we did...

There was an established human presence in the 5th century BC (http://www.bry94.fr/bry/4.htm), apparently. And maybe earlier, of course.


Edit:
Wikipedia says there has been a settlement in Paris (where I was born) since c. 4,200 BC. I'm not sure how Bry figures it's older than that...

The town is mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1066.

town was mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1066 and has archeological evidence of settlements in the area dating as far back as 97ad.

ITYM 1086, no?

Looks like I have the dubious honour of being from the youngest town yet mentioned. <90,000 hicks and morons, dating from 1913, which makes it 94. Don't visit.

I was born in Glenfinnan, Scotland near the shores of Loch Shiel.

Cool, a Highlander! *sings* Don't ever go on the old 830...

I believe the city I live in is a whopping 150-odd years old.

Alameda was developed in 3 separate townships in the mid-1800's, unified as one town a bit later in the late-1800's. Nobody knows where it is though/

San Francisco, which is the closest place most people know about, is hella old. Not as old as anywhere in Europe, but for a North American city, getting up there in years, though it did not see a boom in its population to become a major city until 1849/1850.

Mine was established in 1876, not very old but just in time for the centennial. However, there was an older town near to mine that actually sunk beneath the waves like Atlantis!

...beneath the lake's waves, anyway...

Melbourne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne) was founded in 1835.

Melbourne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne) was founded in 1835.

According to the Wiki my town was incorporated in 1872 as a village and as a city in 1905. I did for a time live in Sault Sainte Marie, the oldest city in Michigan (it's much larger twin is the oldest city in Ontario) which was founded in 1668.

171 years

South Australia was officially settled as a new British province on December 28, 1836, at what is now the suburb of Glenelg North. This day is now commemorated as a public holiday, Proclamation Day, in South Australia. The site of the colony's capital city was surveyed and laid out by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of South Australia. Light chose, not without opposition, a site on rising ground close to the River Torrens, which became the chief early water supply for the fledgling colony. "Light's Vision", as it has been termed, has meant that the initial design of Adelaide required little modification as the city grew and prospered. Usually in an older city it would be necessary to accommodate larger roads and add parks, whereas Adelaide had them from the start. Adelaide was established as the centre of a planned colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution, and does not share the convict settlement history of other Australian cities like Sydney and Hobart.

I've been living in Torrance, California for about 8 years and it was founded in 1911 and incorporated in 1921.

French trading posts at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri rivers were around from the late 1600s, I believe; Kansas City itself was officially founded in 1850. Though the history of the area isn't quite so long as some that have been discussed here, it's unquestionably significant. The easternmost points of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails are all located in what is now the greater KC area, and if any tiny geographical area could lay claim to directly causing the US Civil War, it'd be the border upon which my city is located.

Looks like I have the dubious honour of being from the youngest town yet mentioned. <90,000 hicks and morons, dating from 1913, which makes it 94. Don't visit.

My town is about 300 years old. People play favorites and teach abstinence in schools. Don't visit here either.

Well, my town was recognized as a village in the 1970s and became a town around the 90's. However, as a settled area it dates back in Japanese culture to well over 1,000 years and even farther when you count the Ainu and Jumon people.

My town's official motto (http://www.bry94.fr/bry/6.htm) says it all: "Moult viel que Paris".


LOLOL!!! That made my morning!

Princeton, Minnesota, About 150 years old, IIRC.

Princeton, Minnesota, About 150 years old, IIRC.

My town is twice your town's age. :p

My town is twice your town's age. :p
I noticed. :p

But does it have 4000 citizens like mine? :p

Ratae Corieltauvorum was founded in AD 50 - it's now called Leicester.

The village I grew up in was settled in the Iron Age, then by the Romans and the Saxons, and was in the Domesday book. Don't know exactly when it can be said to have been founded, though.

Colchester/ Camulodunum. Oldest mother fuckin' recorded town in the British Isles.

Winner.

171 years

If you don't mind me asking, what does your sig say? (the bit in Russian. I'm learning Russian, but pretty much all I can pick up from it is the first word is 'how much' or 'how many'). It's a beautiful language, but so hard to learn! practically everything conjugates!!

I personally have absolutely no idea. All I know is that it was around in the middle ages, where it made a useful waypoint between London and Portsmouth.

Guildford?

Guildford?

Horndean. The little village no-one has ever heard of.
You know it's going to spawn someone famous.

Horndean. The little village no-one has ever heard of.
You know it's going to spawn someone famous.

Actually, I used to live there. What's this I hear about Gales Brewery shutting or being bought up or something?

Actually, I used to live there. What's this I hear about Gales Brewery shutting or being bought up or something?

Was bought by Fullers and production was moved to Chiswick.

:(

Was bought by Fullers and production was moved to Chiswick.

:(

Fullers... oh well, if it had to be bought up by someone, then I guess it could have been worse.

Bizarre to run into another Horndean person online. Especially as I'll probably never go there again. Family home used to be in Barton Cross, but my dad sold it last year and we've all moved on.

Bizarre to run into another Horndean person online. Especially as I'll probably never go there again. Family home used to be in Barton Cross, but my dad sold it last year and we've all moved on.

What's even more bizarre is that I live relatively close to Barton Cross.

Small world.

I live in a town called Lincoln in the east of england. It has had continual recorded settlement on the site since the roman invasion. However there is evidence and an even older settlement existed on the same site before this occupied by a Celtic tribe.

Quite how long the site has been activeley settled is anyones guess.

366 years

Watford - 1000 years old according to wiki

My city (Lake Elssinore) was founded in 1888.

If you don't mind me asking, what does your sig say? (the bit in Russian. I'm learning Russian, but pretty much all I can pick up from it is the first word is 'how much' or 'how many'). It's a beautiful language, but so hard to learn! practically everything conjugates!!

I'm not quite sure actually.... but according to the people who made the song I took it from it's something like "No matter how many threads deception would weave, Truth will show its face of light", but I don't speak the language so I can't be sure.

Places I have lived.
London - first settled in 50AD by the Romans. Is almost completely abandoned 100 years after the fall of the Roman Empire and begins a slow rebuild and eventually becomes the second city in human history in which more than 1,000,000 live after the Rome of the Roman Empire.

Plymouth - First evidence of a settlement dates back to about 1000BC. Was a stronghold against the Royalists in the English civil war and there is a small park called Freedom Fields which commemorates this. Also the port from which the Pilgrims set forth on their voyage to the Americas aboard the Mayflower in 1620.

Bradford - First settled around about 1000AD. A town loyal to Parliamentarians of the English civil, but the difficultly in defending the city lead to it changing hands frequently. It was one of the major hearts of the industrial revolution in the UK, producing massive amounts of high quality wool and textiles. Bradford being a heavily industrialised town lead to the formation of the Independent Labour Party, one of the first democratic socialist parties in Britain, in 1895. The ILP was heavily involved in the formation of the Labour Party in 1906.

Bukhara - An oasis orginally inhabited since 3000BC and the city was officially founded in 500BC. In 850AD Bukhara became the capital of the Islamic Caliphate and the biggest centre of learning in the world at that time. Bukhara was razed by the Mongols after the city leaders executed the Mongol ambassdors. Bukhara slowly rebuilt bigger, better and stronger to such an extent that it boasts more mosques than NYC does Starbucks (NB. poetic license at work).

Birmingham - First settled by the romans, but the settlement begins to grow around about 1000AD to become one of the largest industrial cities of the British Empire. Was where the first of Britain's Redbrick universities. The Student Union bar is abysmally small bar because the funding to build the Student Union came from the Cadbury family, who, like most of the other hugely successful merchant families of the industrial revolution, were not very found of any human vice, such as beer, ignorance and hanging your washing out to dry on the sabbath.

eventually becomes the second city in human history in which more than 1,000,000 live after the Rome of the Roman Empire.
Er... I'm sure London's a wonderful place and is one of the world's most important cities, but Bagdad holds the record of first city over 1 million souls and both Beijing and Edo (Tokyo) were at a million long before London reached it.

London does hold the record of being first over 5 million though.

LOLOL!!! That made my morning!

It did? ;)

Er... I'm sure London's a wonderful place and is one of the world's most important cities, but Bagdad holds the record of first city over 1 million souls and both Beijing and Edo (Tokyo) were at a million long before London reached it.

London does hold the record of being first over 5 million though.I've always read that Rome had reached a population of 1,000,000 by the time of the fall of the Republic. A cursory glance at Baghdad tells me that it gained a million inhabitants around about the 9th century AD. Thought both these appear to be estimates. You seem to be right about Edo and Beijing though. I must be tired and not remembering stuff right.

Eugh... on hindsight what I wrote seems quite propagandarish. Meh, that's what you get for writing from memory. The only think I looked up was the dates.

I've always read that Rome had reached a population of 1,000,000 by the time of the fall of the Republic. A cursory glance at Baghdad tells me that it gained a million inhabitants around about the 9th century AD. Thought both these appear to be estimates. You seem to be right about Edo and Beijing though. I must be tired and not remembering stuff right.
I've read half a million by the fall of the Republic, but Wiki bears us both out (half a million to 3 million, 1 million being the favorite). Bagdad reached a million in 775 so I stand corrected.

Eugh... on hindsight what I wrote seems quite propagandarish. Meh, that's what you get for writing from memory. The only think I looked up was the dates.
Oh I didn't think it was propaganda, just local legend.

Well the town I grew up in dates back to the 1650s and the Dutch but its modern history is really only as old as 1905ish. Where I live now, well, the Bronx dates back to 1639 when Europeans made some farm there.

There have only been people here for 1000 years or so, and even then it wasn't until the earthquake of 1855 that made it more suitable for building a city. It became NZs capital in 1865, so it was obviously city-y enough then.

Columbus, OH dates fom 1812.

Norrköping, Sweden. It officially became a city in 1384, though the name is recorded to first have been used a hundred years earlier; by then, people had already lived there for some time.

Nothing remains of the medieval city today, though, as Norrköping was burned down several times, the first couple of them during war. The southern part of it during the 16th century, then the city was burned again during the 17th and early 18th century. Soon thereafter, it was rebuilt once again and became an industrial city (the industry is what Norrköping is famous for). Two large fires occured again during the early 19th century, after which wooden houses were banned within the city. It since kept growing and flourishing, until the industry scaled back due to cheap competition from other countries. Now it is regrowing, as a center for culture and education.

Well 70 years ago my City wasn't even a City with a grand population of 16 people and a General Store.
But it now has a population of 40,000.

Colchester/ Camulodunum. Oldest mother fuckin' recorded town in the British Isles.

Winner.

I though in fact Abingdon was in fact older than Colchester

my town was founded around about 450's-70's

Kalmar, Sweden. The first record of the city's name is from 1027, but it most likely has history dating back to the 800-900's.

So at least 980 years.

I live in Colchester, Essex, which is often stated to be the oldest recorded town in Britain, as Roman records first mention it in 77CE. Archeological evidence suggests it has existed for even longer, with evidence of settlement going back 3,000 years. Interestingly ever since Celtic times it has been a town associated with the armed forces/warfare: the Celtic name for it was "Camulodunon", the "fortress of Camulos", the God of war; to the Romans it was an important millitary base (although it was overrun during the rebellion of Boudica), and even to this day there is an army garrison here.

My town, Bishop Auckland was founded (or at least first recorded) in the mid 12th century, but there is archaeology dating back to the first century in the form of the Roman fort of Vinovia, and a 7th century Saxon Church just up the River. Oh, and the second part of the name "Auckland" was first recorded as Alcluit, which is celtic and apparently means 'on the clyde'. Our other river is called the Wear, which is also celtic, so god knows how long people have been living here.

My city (Durham, North Carolina) is relatively new even by American standards. The city was officially chartered in 1869, though there was a post office in the area as early as 1827. The city got its name from a railroad depot that was established in 1853.

My town is officially 40 years old this year.

"Columbia is a census-designated place and planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not just in terms of economics and engineering. Opened in 1967, Columbia was designed to not only eliminate the inconveniences of then-current subdivision design, but also eliminate racial, religious, & income segregation."

Lofty goals, eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia%2C_MD

Denver was founded on November 22, 1858. My house was built 38 years later in 1896.

I kinda love the fact that my old school is older than half the places mentioned here.

1850's.