Monday, November 01, 2010

The Oldest Continually Inhabited House in Our House in Jersey

I'm flipping through the October 2010 issue of Smithsonian magazine, and something has caught my eye: In a "Special Advertising Section" promoting travel to St. Augustine, Florida, the 445 year-old town is described as "the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States."

How can this be? I recall a previous issue of Smithsonian telling me that Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico is the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States. What gives? Am I remembering incorrectly?

I google Acoma Pueblo, nicknamed "Sky City", and the official website tells me that it is "the oldest continually inhabited community in North America."

So what's the deal, here? It seems to come down to a distinction between "city" and "community", but that just confuses me more. Is Acoma Pueblo, despite its nickname, not considered a city? Founded in the 12th century, it's the older of the two.

I'm not rooting for either one, here. I've been to both, and they're both wonderful and certainly worth your travel time and dollars. I'm just wondering whether St. Augustine and Acoma Pueblo are aware of one another. And who researches the oldest-continually-inhabited-whatever claims? It seems like there'd be some kind of government agency (the Department of Continual Inhabitation) dedicated to overseeing these things. Just where are my tax dollars going?!

Boy, I'd better get out and vote tomorrow. While I'm out, I think I'll have a sign made up: "Welcome to Our House in Jersey, the oldest continually inhabited house in this building."

< ? NJ Bloggers # >