The Colonial St. Augustine Project: Digitizing 400 Years of Interaction Phase 1
FAIN: PW-277334-21
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL 32611-0001)
Charles Richard Cobb (Project Director: July 2020 to present)
The development of a database and online portal to archaeological material at the Florida Museum of Natural History from three house lots at the colonial city of St Augustine. The house lots encompass material from the late 16th to 19th centuries. A total of approximately 52,000 artifacts and over 2000 documents, maps and photos, would be added – including pottery, architecture, clothing, and metals that document the diverse cultural representation in St Augustine at that time.
The Colonial St. Augustine Project will rely on a sample of artifact collections from house lots from the city of St. Augustine, Florida to accomplish two goals: 1) develop an digital database that helps to describe the colonial history of the city based on archaeological investigations; and, 2) make that data freely accessible through an online web portal. Established by the Spanish Crown in 1565, St. Augustine is widely celebrated as the earliest colonial town in North America that is still an active community today. As the capital of the Spanish colony of Florida, it played a major role in the colonial history of eastern North America, and its later integration into the United States strongly shaped the character of the American South. The public website to be made available through this project will emphasize the importance of archaeological research for sharing this story with the American public.