America's Most Iconic Bakeries That Are Over 100 Years Old

Across the United States, there are a few bakeries in operation that have been going strong for at least a century, some substantially longer. Among the most iconic historic bakeries in the US, most started as small business ventures from enterprising immigrants, seeking to make a living in a new country. The majority of these bakeries have remained with the same family and are still preparing the same original recipes four or five generations later. In a world ever more inclined towards industrialization, these historic bakeries have become important fixtures in their communities, emphasizing the quality of baking made from scratch.

Each of these bakeries has its own claim to fame, from classic Italian cannolis to Cajun ginger cake. These specialties have made their bakeries locally and even nationally renowned, with quality that has withstood the test of time. Business was not without challenges over the many decades that these establishments have been in operation, and all have witnessed the country modernize away from the simpler life when bread deliveries occurred daily via horse and buggy. In addition to their own perseverance over the years, these bakeries across the U.S. all had to survive ingredient shortages during the Great Depression and World War II rationing. A testament to the pillars they've become for their communities, here is a list of 10 of America's most iconic bakeries that are over a century old, and proof that they are really good at what they bake.

As America's oldest continually running bakery, this business has operated under the name Winkler since 1807, but is technically a bit older. The bakery site itself, in Salem, North Carolina, dates back to 1799. Not only do baking operations continue on the same historic site, but Winkler's has also been using the same wood-fired brick oven to produce the specialties it was known for over 200 years ago. Constructed by the Moravian community that settled in this region of the Carolinas in the 1700s, the bakery always had ties to this branch of Protestantism, for which special occasions called for traditional treats.

Today, Winkler's takes pride in its Colonial history by keeping these historic baking traditions alive, which means the bakers on site also wear historic attire. This microcosm of scents and flavors offers rosemary bread as a savory specialty, but it's particularly famous for its Moravian ginger cookies. Though they were known as ginger cakes back in the day, these wafers, sweetened with molasses, are so thin they pack a crunch, as well as a load of spices. Winkler's other historic specialty is Moravian sugar cake, a sort of coffee cake topped with butter and sugar, which gets its characteristic texture from an unexpected secret ingredient — the mashed potatoes added to the batter are a historic form of natural starter that results in a dense, yeasted dough and a timeless tastiness.

www.oldsalem.org/winkler
(336) 721-7302
521 S Main St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Though it offers a wide selection of Cuban pastries, touting flavors such as guava or coconut, La Segunda Central Bakery's real claim to fame is its classic Cuban bread. Using the same traditional methods since 1915, La Segunda's inception came out of a pure passion for Cuban bread. This was a life-changing discovery for a Spanish soldier, Juan Moré, who tried it for the first time while fighting in the Spanish American war. Settling in Ybor City in the Tampa Bay region, along with many other European immigrants around the turn of the century, Moré opened three bakeries to make the Cuban bread he enjoyed so much. La Segunda was the one that stayed in business, and continues to thrive. 

Today, the bakery's loaves are still cooked in the oven with traditional palmetto leaves, which are said to impact flavor or moisture. Once baked, the bread is then set in front of fans to give a crunchy crust while leaving the inside delectably soft — a perfect texture that's hard to replicate. La Segunda is so renowned for this bread, in fact, that it ships its loaves nationwide to restaurants serving authentic Cuban specialties. In addition to churning out 18,000 loaves a day, La Segunda also makes Cubanos, topping the list of best Cuban sandwiches in the US, to prove that quantity does not lapse in quality.

lasegundabakery.com
(813) 248-1531
2512 N 15th St., Tampa, FL 33605

While a small town in Pennsylvania is home to the oldest pretzel bakery in the US, another of the state's oldest historic bakeries is located in Philadelphia. Still standing on the original site, Isgro Pastries has been running as a family business since 1904. Founded by Mario Isgro, an Italian immigrant who learned the art of pastry in Vienna before moving to the States, the bakery produces a huge variety of Italian specialties. Operating out of Philly's historic Italian Market, Isgro always has a mouth-watering selection of traditional treats, including biscotti, pignoli, and butter cookies. In more recent years, Isgro Pastries has also earned a reputation for its strawberry shortcake and pound cake, but the bakery is especially renowned for its crisp cannolis prepared with a traditional filling.

To this day, the cannolis are still Isgro's number one item. Though the bakery fries up hundreds per day, these treats are carefully crafted and filled by hand. The crispy, melt-in-your-mouth shell is filled as soon as ordered, for an unbeatably fresh cannoli that reflects the care that has gone into Isgro's pastries for well over a hundred years.

www.isgropastries.com
(215) 923-3092
1009 Christian St., Philadelphia, PA 19147

Founded by Swedish-born Birger Lindahl in 1887, Lyndell's Bakery in Somerville is the oldest scratch bakery in the region. Pivoting from an earlier career in bread deliveries, Lindahl changed his name to something more phonetic for English ears. Then he opted to start producing fresh-baked goods for the community — a supply that hasn't run out of its demand for well over a century. Though the bakery has changed ownership a few times over the years, it still maintains the tradition of fresh daily baked goods, all of which come from recipes at least as old as the establishment. Everything is always made entirely from scratch, including the chocolate, cream, and custard used to fill or coat any of the various delicacies making their daily appearance behind Lyndell's counter. 

Among the menu fixtures are a wide selection of pastries, tarts, and cakes, with everything from Bavarian tarts to ricotta pie. Regulars, however, often come in for fresh donuts, and anything that stays uneaten after the first day or so is donated to the surrounding community. Most of the classic cakes and pies Lyndell's makes fresh daily are available by the slice, but the bakery is also in high demand for custom cake orders, crafting up to 12,000 every year.

lyndells.com
(617) 625-1793
720 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02144

It may have moved locations a few times since it was founded by German immigrant Klaus Holtermann in 1878, but Holtermann's Bakery in Staten Island, New York, has remained a thriving family business since then. Operating for five generations, the bakery has adapted and modernized over its nearly 150 years in business. Among Holtermann's numerous strategies for selling more than just bread on the regular was to offer daily specials for different sweet treats every weekday. Starting out with horse-drawn deliveries to eventually switch to delivery trucks, Holtermann's quickly became a community fixture. Though it doesn't make door-to-door deliveries anymore, it is still known for the same specialties it served customers back in the late 19th century, proffering goods straight out of another time. 

The bakery whips up long rectangular loaves of Pullman bread (named after the Pullman train cars that used to transport these loaves nationwide) and calls back to its German origins with its santarts, dense Bundt-like cakes with a crumbly texture, which are regularly available. Perhaps the most renowned pastry at Holtermann's, however, is the Charlotte Russe, a sponge cake filled with jam and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. The dessert was popular in the 19th century, but has since fallen out of mainstream favor. Holtermann's is keeping the recipe alive in single-serving portions, making it a feature among the many sweets the bakery offers daily to a regular clientele.

holtermannsbakerynyc.com
(718) 984-7095
405 Arthur Kill Rd., Staten Island, NY 10308

Founded in 1922, German immigrant Kuno Plehn's original bakery has been going strong for four generations, operating for over a hundred years. Though the bakery first got its start in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, Plehn decided to move the business two years later, to a spot that was considered to be rural and well outside of the city's limits. This move did not impact business, however, and today the bakery remains a local institution with a knack for holiday treats.

Known more recently for its made-to-order special occasion cakes, Plehn's Bakery's best-known holiday treat is the Easter tradition of hot cross buns. But even when there aren't upcoming holidays, Plehn's also attracts regulars with daily offerings of breakfast pastries and other desserts, including croissants, donuts, and a wide array of cookies and danishes. The abundant kuchen and coffee cakes, additionally available every day, harken back to the bakery's German origins. Plehn's offerings have since expanded beyond traditional breads and pastries — ice cream is also served on the premises, and the deli offers classic sandwiches on the bakery's homemade bread. 

plehns.com
(502) 896-4438
3940 Shelbyville Rd., Louisville, KY 40207

Founded by Italian immigrant Antonio Carmen Tomaro in 1914, Tomaro's Bakery has been a community staple providing Italian bread for more than a century from secret family recipes. The bakery offers a variety of loaves, including traditional Easter bread available in the Spring, made with anise seeds shipped from relatives back in Italy. But what has made this West Virginia bakery particularly famous are its pepperoni rolls. Tomaro's iconic version of this handheld snack consists of sticks of pepperoni baked inside Italian dough.

The pepperoni roll is a West Virginia specialty and the official state food. Though pepperoni rolls were once rumored to be illegal in the U.S., the savory treat has always been well-loved. It remains a portable snack with close ties to the region's Italian community, many of whom settled there for jobs working in the coal mines. The innovation of pepperoni baked inside bread rolls made for a quick and easy meal that could be eaten while miners were working underground. As well as being convenient, the combination was certifiably delicious, and it wasn't long before local bakeries began preparing pepperoni rolls for eager customers above ground. The shape and type of pepperoni may vary depending on who's baking it, but Tomaro's sticks of pepperoni in crisp Italian dough are an iconic pairing beloved across the state.

tomarosbakery.com
(304) 622-0691
411 N 4th St., Clarksburg, WV 26301

First opened in Jeanerette, Louisiana, in 1884, LeJeune's Bakery is still a local staple five generations later. Rather than modernizing with the times, the bakery has insisted on maintaining its from-scratch and by-hand baking practices. Employing the same methods its first generation used, LeJeune's continues to produce the same baked goods it was selling nearly 140 years ago. Opting for tradition over variety, LeJeune's does not offer a wide selection of delicacies, but has stuck to the same products it's always been known for, emphasizing quality.

French bread and ginger cakes are LeJeune's classics and biggest sellers, both representing aspects of the region's heritage. While French bread speaks to the French influence in the region prior to the 19th century, ginger cakes, containing lots of spice and sweetened with molasses, are a much older Cajun tradition. Beyond these classic baked goods, LeJeune's also produces hot dog buns and pistolettes, French rolls served with savory fillings, and another typical element in Louisiana's Cajun cuisine. An important local fixture, LeJeune's significance to the surrounding community has not gone unacknowledged. It became the first bakery in Louisiana to be listed on the national registry of historic places.

lejeunesbakery.com
(337) 276-5690
1510 Main St., Jeanerette, LA 70544

Founded by Isidore Boudin, one of many French immigrants who came to San Francisco during the California gold rush, the Boudin Bakery has been known for its sourdough bread for nearly two centuries. Based on how sourdough starter works, much lore surrounds the true origins of Boudin's starter — no one knows whether it came from a prospecting 49er or was brought all the way from France. Whatever the truth, Boudin himself came from a family of bakers, and was well-equipped to transform a wild yeast starter into delicious, unequalled sourdough, which became an instant hit and a local staple. Once business and the growing town of San Francisco were both booming by the late 19th century, Boudin's delivered sourdough loaves around town via horse and buggy. The delivery driver alerted customers that their bread had arrived by slapping a sourdough loaf onto a nail hammered into the door for this express purpose.

By the early 20th century, the bakery's sourdough starter became so essential to the business that Boudin's wife, Louise Erni, risked her life to rescue it in a bucket while fleeing the great 1906 earthquake that devastated most of the city, including the bakery's premises. Every loaf of bread baked at Boudin's to this day contains some of that original sourdough starter — an impressive feat, considering that Boudin's bakes 25,000 loaves daily. Boudin's bread has consequently maintained the same signature flavor since 1849. 

boudinbakery.com
(415) 351-5561
160 Jefferson St., San Francisco, CA 94133

Located in Chicago, Illinois, Roeser's Bakery is another fourth-generation family business still operating in its original location. Starting out in wholesale bread deliveries, John Roeser, the German immigrant who founded the business, switched to follow his passion in 1911. He hoped to provide classic sweet treats to the surrounding community, and thus Roeser's Bakery came to be. With the location in a primarily Scandinavian neighborhood, Roeser's goods reflected the community's culture, churning out rye bread and Danishes among other classic breads and desserts.

Roeser's has stayed in business in its bustling community, which has seen many waves of immigration over the years, garnering a loyal customer base and a reputation for delicious, quality desserts. Today, Roeser's produces all kinds of donuts and cookies, as well as an assortment of pies and special occasion cakes made to order. These bakery items are in addition to the classics that Roeser's has been producing for decades, including a mouthwatering selection of coffee cakes and pastries. The bakery has even gone on to make homemade ice cream, but no amount of variety can compare to the fan favorite among Roeser's sweet treats — the bakery's iconic butter loaf consists of a braided Danish topped with icing and streusel, and is a surefire crowd-pleaser that keeps customers coming back time and again. 

roeserscakes.com
(773) 489-6900
3216 W North Ave., Chicago, IL 60647