美国驻上海总领事馆的历史可以追溯到美中两国建交初期，它是远东地区历史最悠久的美国外交和领事机构之一，也是在中国设立的第二个美国外交机构。
设立和发展
上海第一个美国领事机构的成立可以追溯到19世纪中期，早在1844年美国与中国清政府签订了《和平、友好、贸易条约》。在没有官方任命领事的情况下，一家波士顿贸易公司驻沪办事处的美国商人Henry Wolcott在其外滩附近的办公室顶上升起了星条旗，遂成为第一任美国驻上海代领事。
1854年，面对着美国在上海与日俱增的贸易和利益，美国政府任命Robert Murphy 为首任官方美国驻上海领事。他的办公室坐落在苏州河北岸的黄浦路36号，那个地区很快就成为了美租界的中心区域。随着上海与西方的联系日趋紧密，美领馆也随之发展。
1861年，林肯总统任命George Seward 为美国驻上海领事，两年后将其提升为总领事。Seward 在任的15年间，美租界有所扩大，并与其他外国租界合并，形成了国际租界。到了20世纪初，超过1500名美国人定居上海。美国社区在上海成立公司、开设医院、学校和教育交流机构，进而推动了上海的经济发展和生活进步。1916年，为了满足员工人数的迅猛增长和工作范围日益扩大的需求，美领馆迁至黄浦路13-14号的新楼之中。价值35.5万美元的新楼是当时全球价格最高的美国使领馆建筑。到了20世纪30年代，美领馆拥有10名来自美国国务部的官员，一名来自商务部的贸易专员，一名来自农业部的专员，一个美国驻中国法庭、监狱、码头、邮局以及来访海军和海军陆战队的阅兵场。
从世界大战到冷战
在二战之前，上海曾经是世界第7大城市，也一度是亚洲的金融和商贸中心。然而，1932年日本袭击上海的闸北区，致使多年来上海和西方的贸易交往陷于混乱之中。1933年的事态发展使美国驻上海总领事馆80年来第一次离开了美租界，迁至苏州河南岸。最初坐落在江西路248-250号的Kalee酒店旧址，1936年又迁至江西路和福州路西南拐角的开发大楼之中。而1941年12月，日军攻入上海迫使美领馆在战争期间闭馆。
1945年9月5日，日军投降后不到1个月，美领馆即在外滩28号的格林邮船大楼旧址重新开馆，该大楼是战争期间德国领馆的所在地。战后的上海与战前迥然不同，外国租界均已被废除，而整个国家不久就陷入了内战。1949年5月29日，中国人民解放军挺进上海。新的共产主义政府并不承认领馆官员的外交地位，1950年4月25日，总领事Walter McConaughy降下美国国旗，并关闭领馆。直到几十年后，美中两国才恢复正式外交关系，美领馆才重新开馆。
重生和复兴
1972年，随着《上海公报》的签署，上海成为美中关系正常化的象征。1980年4月28日，几乎恰好在闭馆30年之后，美领馆于其现址：淮海中路1469号重新开馆，一位旧时领馆的中方员工将一面美国国旗交给当时的总领事Donald Anderson，这正是30年前上任总领事降下的那面国旗。目前这面国旗正悬挂在领馆接待室中，成为新旧领馆历史纽带的象征。
现在的领馆大楼始建于1921年，主楼是一幢法国文艺复兴时期风格的小洋楼。在美领馆迁入之前，该建筑几易其主。最初是当时亚洲最大的英国贸易公司Jardine Matheson 公司。在二战期间，一位日本商人携其家属入住，随后又成为瑞士总领事的家宅。在1946年，纺织业巨贾的后裔荣鸿元购置该处地产，但是不久后即离开上海。随着中华人民共和国的成立，这一建筑归妇联使用，在文革时期一度是“政治教育”中心，其后又成为政府迎宾馆，直到美领馆签订合约，成为小洋楼的新主人。领馆现址占地面积3英亩，包括若干外围建筑，一片橘林，园林假山和一个鲤鱼池。1997年和2003-2005年，领馆进行过两次大规模的内外整修，以保存建筑美感，提升建筑效用。
随着上海的持续发展，美中关系的日益深入，美国驻上海总领事馆的工作也与日俱增。上海再次成为重要的商务和贸易枢纽，并象征着中国日益提高的国际地位。众多美国公司和美国公民回到上海，美领馆广大员工致力于保护美国的利益 ，为美国公司和个人提供帮助，推动美中两国个人和机构间的交流和对话。自美国在上海建立第一个领事机构迄今已有一个半世纪，此间上海经历了沧桑巨变，但是不变的是领馆与上海之间的良好关系，如同这个城市一般，生机勃勃，欣欣向荣，历久弥新。

The United States Consulate General in Shanghai is among the oldest American diplomatic and consular posts in the Far East, and the second oldest in China.
Establishment and Growth
The first American consular presence in Shanghai dates to the mid-nineteenth century, following the conclusion of a treaty of “peace, amity, and commerce” between the United States and the Qing Dynasty in 1844.  In the absence of an officially appointed consul, American businessman Henry Wolcott — local agent for a Boston trading company — raised the Stars and Stripes above his company office near the Bund and became the first Acting U.S. Consul in Shanghai.
In 1854, in recognition of growing American trade and interests in the port city, the United States Government appointed Robert Murphy the first professional American Consul in Shanghai.  His offices were located at 36 Huangpu Road, north of Suzhou Creek, in the area that would soon become the center of Shanghai’s American Settlement.  As Shanghai’s linkages with the West grew, so too did the American Consulate.
President Lincoln named George Seward to be Consul in 1861 and promoted him to Consul General two years later.  During his fifteen years in Shanghai, Seward oversaw the expansion of the American Settlement and its merger with the Foreign Settlement, creating a joint International Settlement.  By the early twentieth century, more than 1,500 Americans called Shanghai home.  The American community contributed to the economy and life of the city, founding businesses, hospitals, schools, and educational exchanges.  In 1916, the Consulate General moved to new buildings at 13-14 Huangpu Road to accommodate a quickly growing staff and range of responsibilities.  These new offices — at a cost of $355,000 — were the most expensive U.S. embassy or consulate in the world at that time.  By the 1930s, the Consulate General hosted a staff of ten State Department officials, a trade commissioner from the Department of Commerce, and an agent from the Department of Agriculture, as well as the U.S. Court for China, a jail, wharf, post office, and a parade ground for visiting Navy and Marine detachments.
From World War to Cold War
In the years prior to World War II, Shanghai was the seventh largest city in the world, and had become the financial and commercial center of Asia.  Years of trade and interaction with the West were thrown into disarray, however, beginning with the 1932 Japanese attack on Shanghai’s northern Zhabei District.  In 1933, events pushed the U.S. Consulate General south of Suzhou Creek, leaving the old American Settlement for the first time in nearly 80 years.  First located in the old Kalee Hotel at 248-250 Jiangxi Road, the Consulate in 1936 moved to the Development Building on the southwest corner of Jiangxi Road and Fuzhou Road.  By December 1941, however, Japanese advances into Shanghai forced the closure of the Consulate for the duration of the war.
On September 5, 1945, less than a month after Japan’s surrender, the U.S. Consulate General resumed operations in the old Glen Line Building at 28 The Bund — the wartime home of the German Consulate.  Post-war Shanghai was a different city; the foreign settlements had been abolished and civil war soon engulfed the country.  On May 29, 1949, the People’s Liberation Army entered Shanghai.  The new Communist government did not recognize the diplomatic status of the Consulate staff, and on April 25, 1950, Consul General Walter McConaughy lowered the American flag and closed the Consulate.  It was not until decades later that formal diplomatic relations between China and the United States were reestablished, and the Consulate could reopen.
Rebirth and Renewal
Shanghai itself came to symbolize the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations in 1972, with the issuance of the Shanghai Communiqué.  On April 28, 1980, almost exactly 30 years after it closed, the United States Consulate General in Shanghai reopened at its present location at 1469 Central Huai Hai Road.  A member of the old Consulate’s Chinese staff later presented Consul General Donald Anderson with the same flag that his predecessor had lowered three decades earlier.  It now hangs in the Consulate’s reception rooms as a symbol of the historic ties between the old Consulate and the new.
The current Consulate property was built in 1921.  The main house is a villa in the French Renaissance style.  Prior to the Consulate assuming the lease, the property hosted numerous and varied occupants.  The first was Jardine, Matheson and Co., the largest British trading firm in Asia at the time.  During World War II, a Japanese businessman and his family, and later the Swiss Consul General, took up residence in the house.  In 1946, Rong Hongyuan (Yung Hungyuen), scion of a wealthy textile family, bought the property, but fled Shanghai soon after.  Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the house was used by the All China Women’s Federation, was a center for “political education” during The Cultural Revolution, and finally served as a government guesthouse prior to the U.S. Consulate taking the lease.  The present Consulate property sits on three acres, and includes several outbuildings, an orange grove, a Chinese rock garden, and a carp pond.  Extensive renovations, both to the interior and exterior of the building, were carried out in 1997 and 2003-2005 to preserve the beauty of the property and to upgrade the building’s effectiveness as a work place.
As Shanghai continues to grow, and Sino-U.S. relations develop deeper and broader linkages, the work of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai also continues to grow and expand.  Shanghai has again become a major center of commerce and trade, and is a potent symbol of China’s rising status.  American businesses and citizens have returned to the city in large numbers.  The Consulate General’s large staff works to support and promote American interests, assist U.S. companies and private American citizens, and promote exchanges and dialogue between Chinese and American individuals and institutions.  Much has changed in the past century and a half since the United States established a consular presence in Shanghai, but much has also remained the same: the relationship between the Consulate and Shanghai is as vibrant, dynamic and durable as Shanghai itself.