The oldest established town in every US state

As the United States turns 250, some may think of it as a young nation, but many of its towns have histories that stretch back centuries.

From Native American communities to early colonial settlers, many of the towns in today’s maps have been occupied for hundreds of years.

But America’s history is complicated, and countless towns with rich histories fell out of the history books once they were settled.

To identify the oldest town in every state for this list, we looked at the year it was first permanently settled, meaning when people arrived and formally established a community there.

The unfortunate reality is that many towns in the US were already home to Native American communities — dating back thousands of years — by the time they were “founded.” Members of Native American communities were expelled or wiped out by colonizing settlers who claimed the land as their own, and the history of colonial America often erases their stories.

Photographers, historians, and advocates, including Matika Wilbur, are working to keep these stories alive.

With this context in mind, here’s the oldest established town in every state.