I have not checked but Dubuque, Iowa, was founded in the 1600's
and (chuckle) is west of the Mississippi, on the west bank.
How old is Ste. Genevieve, MO?
I did a Google. I thought it was older than its website indicates. I thought it was at least as old as Prairie du Rocher, IL; and older than Chester, IL, which were both founded in the 1600s. Somewhere in one of my boxes, I have a history of the French Illinois Country, which included Cahokia, Fort de Chartres (Prairie du Rocher) and Kaskaskia, which are in present-day Illinois, Vincenes which is in present-day Indiana, and Ste. Genvieve, which is in present-day Missouri. According to Wikipedia, SG is *only* the oldest permanent European town in Missouri. So, my memory has served me wrong.
"Sainte Genevieve, Missouri: Missouri's Most Historic Town
While 1735 is celebrated as Ste. Genevieve's birth date, the village of Ste. Genevieve was established somewhere between 1722 and 1749. The first permanent European settlement in what now is the state of Missouri, the community was established as a trading outpost and was later settled by lead miners, farmers and fur traders. Before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the dominant architecture was French Creole with wooden homes built in several styles. Most of these homes feature galeries, or porches, surrounding the homes. These homes were gradually replaced by brick buildings as the American influence on the city took hold. Most of the earlier French structures are gone, but Ste. Genevieve holds the distinction of having the largest concentration of French Colonial buildings in the country. Three of these buildings - the Amoureux, the Bolduc, and the Guibourd-Valle houses - are open to the public. The Felix Valle Home is open to the public and demonstrates the effect of the American influence."
These named houses are log "cabins" built in French style rather than American. Their logs are vertical rather than horizontal and are actually slabs rather than logs.
Cahokia is located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi across from St. Louis. Do a Google on "Cahokia Mounds."
