58 Cuna Street
The archaeological site at 58 Cuna Street, also known as the Jacinto-Sabate site, is in an area of St. Augustine occupied since the 1600s. The earliest records show that Manuel Jacinto lived in a woodhouse with an oyster shell foundation in the 1760s. No records exists on Jacinto’s origins or job. The foundation contained broken used to raise the wooden floor off the coquina. The archaeology team found this foundation to be embedded with ceramics and iron nails.
Pablo Sabate and his family arrived from New Smyrna in 1777, Sabate made a living as a fisherman and a farmer, however by the 1800s, the family was operating a tavern. Archaeologists discovered broken tumblers and goblets, along with coins, pipe fragments, cooking implements, and a marionette fragment. All of these artifacts indicate the use of the area as a tavern. The archaeology team also discovered a calf in the backyard of the Sabate residence; the burial of a calf indicates that the animal was being raised as a pet rather than for utilitarian purposes.
During the late 19th century, a primarily African-American community occupied the neighborhood and the site housed a porter, tailor, laborer, and a laundress. In the 1930s, Oscar and Estelle Canova, local bar owners and rumored bootleggers during the prohibition, bought the home and lived there until 1969. Shortly there after the house was demolished and city street paving destroyed the remains of the building.
In 1978, the St. Augustine Foundation bought the land and maintains it today.
Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Kelcie Lloyd
