The Menéndez Settlement Field

The Menéndez Settlement Field. Rebuilding the Past. , The Original Settlement of St. Augustine Comes Back to Life , On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Aviles founded the fledgling settlement of San Agustín here in the field before you, establishing what was to become the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States. Conclusively established as the site of the actual First Settlement of St. Augustine by Dr. Kathy Deagan through years of extensive archaeological excavation and research, the field will now be brought back to life via a program of framework building reconstruction. This framework reconstruction approach will allow visitors to experience the physical presence of the First Settlement while preserving the site for future archaeological excavations. The project will be Phase-based. , Archaeologically correct outlines mark the perimeters of the 1565 Menéndez settlement structures, and a select few have been partially reconstructed to give guests a sense of scale and placement. The round shapes mark the locations of Timucua structures taken over by the Spanish. The rectangular shapes mark the locations of the Spanish-built structures. The largest structure is thought to be the Casa de Municiónes.