Older Than America (10 Photos)

These Shops, Cafés and Inns Are Older Than the United States

The United States turned 250 this year. Every place below was already open for business before July 4, 1776, and every one of them is still in business. The youngest opened in 1730. The oldest has been checking in guests since 705.

---

🎩 Lock & Co. Hatters — Since 1676 in London, UK 🇬🇧

This year the windows of Lock & Co. Hatters say it in lights: 1676 and 2026. The milliner Robert Davis opened a hat shop on St James's Street in 1676, and the Lock family moved the business across the street to No. 6 in 1765, its history page says. It bills itself as the oldest hat shop in the world.

💡 Hat Fact: In 1849 Edward Coke, younger brother of the Earl of Leicester, asked Lock & Co. for a tough hat for his gamekeepers. The result was the bowler hat, which the shop still calls the Coke.

📷 Photo and cover crop: Hayden Soloviev / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

---

🍖 Sobrino de Botín — Since 1725 in Madrid, Spain 🇪🇸

The gold letters over the door of Sobrino de Botín on Calle de Cuchilleros still say Horno de Asar, roasting oven. Guinness World Records lists Botín, from 1725, as the oldest restaurant in the world. It turned 300 last year.

💡 Legend Fact: According to the restaurant's own history, a young Francisco de Goya washed dishes here in 1765. Nobody has ever proven it.

📷 Photo: Ank Kumar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

---

🐴 White Horse Tavern — Since 1673 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA 🇺🇸

Daffodils in front of the White Horse Tavern, a house from 1652 that William Mayes Sr. turned into a tavern in 1673. It bills itself as America's oldest restaurant. When it opened, the Declaration of Independence was still 103 years away.

💡 Pirate Fact: The founder's son, William Mayes, took over as innkeeper in 1702. He was also a notorious pirate who operated in the Red Sea and came home to Newport with his loot.

📷 Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped

---

🫖 Twinings — Since 1706 in London, UK 🇬🇧

A golden lion and two seated Chinese figures sit above the narrow door of Twinings at 216 Strand. Thomas Twining bought Tom's Coffee House in 1706, and Twinings sells tea at 216 Strand today, with a tasting bar inside. From the sidewalk it is easy to walk straight past.

💡 Coincidence Fact: Yes, a man named Thomas bought a place called Tom's. Twinings says the name is pure coincidence.

📷 Photo and cover crop: Bex Walton / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

---

♨️ Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan — Since 705 in Hayakawa, Japan 🇯🇵

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan sits above a river in the mountains of Yamanashi Prefecture. It holds the Guinness record for the oldest hotel in the world, taking guests since 705 AD. The building in the photo is new by comparison. The hot springs are not.

💡 Generation Fact: The Yamanashi tourism board says the inn has been handed down through 53 generations.

📷 Photo: Sablier de Verrie / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

---

☕ Caffè Florian — Since 1720 in Venice, Italy 🇮🇹

One of the small rooms of Caffè Florian, under the arcades of St. Mark's Square. It opened on December 29, 1720, and calls itself the oldest coffeehouse in Italy. Marble tables, velvet benches and gilded mirrors, and barely room for the waiter to get past.

💡 Name Fact: It opened as Alla Venezia Trionfante, Triumphant Venice. Within a few months, Venetians were calling it Florian's, after the founder, Floriano Francesconi.

📷 Photo: Armin Kleiner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

---

🏡 Longfellow's Wayside Inn — Since 1716 in Sudbury, Massachusetts, USA 🇺🇸

Longfellow's Wayside Inn started in 1716 as a two-room family home that took in travelers on the Old Boston Post Road. Today it is one of the oldest inns operating in the United States, with rooms, lunch and dinner. The people at the door are dressed for the inn's early years.

💡 ZIP Fact: The inn's mailing address ends in Sudbury, MA 01776.

📷 Photo: John Phelan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

---

🌸 Floris — Since 1730 in London, UK 🇬🇧

The gold sign of Floris at 89 Jermyn Street, under flower boxes and a royal coat of arms. Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth started selling perfume, combs and shaving products here in 1730. A ninth-generation family member is now perfumery director.

💡 Thank-You Fact: In 1863 Florence Nightingale wrote to Mr. Floris to thank him for his "sweet-smelling nosegays."

📷 Photo: No Swan So Fine / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

---

🍡 Ichimonjiya Wasuke — Since About 1000 in Kyoto, Japan 🇯🇵

A line forms outside Ichimonjiya Wasuke in northern Kyoto. Guinness has it down as the oldest sweet shop still in business, founded around the year 1000. Its specialty is aburi mochi: small rice cakes grilled on bamboo skewers. The wait is part of it.

💡 Family Fact: In 2020, the shop was run by the 24th generation of the same family.

📷 Photo: Hisagi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

---

💊 Raeapteek — Since 1422 or Earlier in Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪

Old cabinets of bottles and jars under a painted ceiling inside Raeapteek, the Town Hall Pharmacy on Tallinn's main square. It was first mentioned in town records in 1422, and Visit Estonia calls it the oldest pharmacy in Europe that has continually operated on the same premises. The working pharmacy is open, with a small museum next door.

💡 Remedy Fact: In medieval times, patients here could buy mummy juice, burnt hedgehog powder and bat powder.

📷 Photo: HartOve / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

---

Which one is your favorite?