08/26/2026
THE RESEARCH PHASE IS OFFICIALLY COMPLETE!
After a LOT of digging, reading, comparing maps, examining archaeological material, going through historical records, tracking down documents, and getting some incredible help from people and institutions along the way, I’m officially calling the research portion of my Avilés Street project in St. Augustine, Florida COMPLETE.
And what a rabbit hole this turned into.
I went into this wanting to find out just how far back the history of this little street could actually be documented — not simply repeat what has been written online.
We found some pretty fascinating things.
Archaeological evidence securely documents roadway deposits along Avilés Street going back into the early 1600s, while the evidence suggests its beginnings could potentially extend into the late 1500s–early 1600s.
A 1586 map by Baptista Boazio shows a street pattern that may represent an early predecessor or alignment in this area — but there is not enough evidence for me to simply claim that the modern Avilés Street dates to 1586.
Archaeology revealed multiple generations of road surfaces and occupation deposits, showing that this was not a street that simply appeared one day and remained unchanged.
Evidence from the area also points to earlier activities including shell processing and cooking before some of the later street surfaces were established.
The evidence indicates that more formal paving of the street occurred during the late First Spanish Period, roughly 1740–1760.
Historic maps, property records and archaeological evidence allow us to follow portions of the street and the properties surrounding it through centuries of St. Augustine’s history.
And one of the biggest things I learned from this project is that history is usually a lot more complicated than one catchy sentence saying something is “the oldest.”
When the evidence lets us say something confidently, we will.
When the evidence only suggests something, I’ll tell you that too.
And when something simply cannot be proven, I’m not going to pretend that it can.
That is exactly the kind of history I want Our Living History to put out.
At this point, anything else that happens to come our way is a bonus. The research phase is closed, the evidence is collected, and now comes the next challenge:
Turning all of this into the Avilés Street video.
I think this one is going to be something special.
Stay tuned..
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