Monson Motor Lodge

Just south of the Castillo de San Marcos along the bay is the Historic Hilton Waterfront Hotel. Until the early 21st Century, this location housed the Monson Motor Lodge, a local well-known hotel. During it’s demolition, the city of St. Augustine took the opportunity to investigate what laid beneath the hotel.

While digging through the floors of each room in the motor lodge, the archaeological team discovered several layers of housing foundations. Across the entire property at least twenty-five historical remains were discovered. Immediately below the modern foundation, the team found the foundation of the late 1800s Monson Hotel, a three story wooden structure.

The earliest structure dated from the early 1700s, approximately 100 years after the settlement of downtown St. Augustine. During this time period, this area of town between the fort and the main town was wet and often flooded. The area housed the lower class citizens of the time. The Native American pottery found on site reinforces that theory because the upper class would have pottery from Europe. The next structure was a British period residence with later Spanish renovations. The final foundation was the home of a Spanish women. One of the structures was coquina block atop an oyster shell bed; broken bottle bases were added to the to potentially raise the wooden floor off the foundation.

Following the room-by-room excavations, the archaeology team monitored the activities of the construction crews. They found the remains of privies, animal enclosures, and large trash pits.

Today, many people walk past the Hilton and never know the historical significance of the land it stands on.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Kelcie Lloyd