100 American Towns Founded Before the American Revolution

Source: Yuan Yufei / Wikimedia Commons

A Spanish mission was established here after a Native American claimed to have seen a burning cross on the mountain of Presidio.

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52. Princeton, New Jersey
> Founded: 1683
> Population: 30,168

Representatives of East Jersey and West Jersey met at a tavern to establish their boundary in 1683. From these negotiations emerged various counties and towns, including the western border of Princeton Township.

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53. Waterbury, Connecticut
> Founded: 1686
> Population: 109,211

Waterbury took its official name in 1686 when it was admitted as the 28th town in the colony of Connecticut.

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54. Falmouth, Massachusetts
> Founded: 1686
> Population: 3,730

Quakers led by Isaac Robinson settled the area. Falmouth takes its name from a town in England.

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55. Danbury, Connecticut
> Founded: 1687
> Population: 83,890

English settlers migrated from Norwalk to Danbury, which was nicknamed Beantown for the proliferation of beans and other vegetables that grew there.

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56. Kingston, New York
> Founded: 1688
> Population: 23,506

The Dutch and English battled for control of the region and the English prevailed. A grant establishing Kingston was approved in 1688.

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57. Newark, New Jersey
> Founded: 1693
> Population: 280,139

New Jersey’s largest city was founded by Puritan settlers who left Connecticut and bought land from the Hackensack Native Americans.

Source: Detroit Publishing Co. / Wikimedia Commons

58. Biloxi, Mississippi
> Founded: 1699
> Population: 45,271

French explorers led by Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville landed on the mainland at present-day Biloxi and established a settlement.

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59. Lebanon, Connecticut
> Founded: 1700
> Population: 7,308

Lebanon was formed by a consolidation of various tracts of land, some of which were held by Native Americans, that were incorporated into one town.

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60. Mobile, Alabama
> Founded: 1702
> Population: 193,717

The French established a continuing presence in 1702. Mobile was the oldest permanent settlement in the original Colony of French Louisiana and was its first capital before the French lost the city following the French and Indian War.