This City In New York Is Older Than The State Itself

At times, I wonder why I didn't become a history teacher. I love history. There is so much to learn about the history of, well just about everything, but for me more specifically the history of the United States and geography.

Did you know that the City of Binghamton became incorporated in 1834? According to the U.S. History website, the first settlers arrived in 1787 and named the future city Chenango Point, up until 1820.  The Iroquois village, Ochenang was located on the site where Binghamton now occupies.

Oldest City In New York State

Census.gov states that New York was ratified as a state by the U.S. Constitution on July 26th, 1788. As you know (or should know), New York State was the 11th of the original 13 states to join the Union.

But, do you know what the oldest city is in the State of New York? Hint: it's the state capital. Yes, Albany is the oldest city in New York State. The Insider website states "Originally founded as Fort Orange by Dutch settlers in 1624, the city was officially chartered by the British government as Albany in 1686."

So, that means, Albany is older than New York State by almost a century. It was in the year 1609 when Henry Hudson found the future City of Albany, populated by the Iroquois Native Americans.

Pennsylvania's Oldest City

For those of you who reside in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that state's oldest city is Philadelphia, founded in 1681 by English Quaker leader William Penn. Pennsylvania became a state on December 12th, 1787.

[via U.S. History, Insider, Census,gov]