Hospital Street
Dublin Core
Creator
Title
Hospital Street
Alternative Title
Aviles Street
Date Created
early 1600s
Date Modified
1924
Type
This is one of the original streets in St. Augustine.
Description
Aviles Street is the oldest street in the United States and is located in St. Augustine’s present-day art district. The Spanish laid-out the street system of St. Augustine in the First Spanish Period. They did not give streets formal names, but rather referred to them based on an important building alongside the road or to where the road led.
From 1572 to 1702, the Catholic parish church, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, faced Aviles Street just south of King Street.
The name for Aviles starting in the 1700s was Hospital Street because in the early 1700s, Don Francisco Menéndez Marquez, a wealthy treasury official in St. Augustine, owned a large two-story house that was converted into the Spanish Military Hospital after his death in 1743. In 1770, the British converted the hospital into a courthouse and jail, but it reverted to and was expanded as a hospital under Spanish rule during the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821). The Spanish Military Hospital included hot water, as well as rooms for soldiers, an apothecary shop, procedure rooms, a kitchen, and a morgue. The hospital operated until the original building burnt down in 1818. In 1924, as a tribute to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine, and because of the off-putting nature of the name, Hospital Street was renamed Aviles Street.
Today, Aviles Street is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the Gaspar Papy House, the Father Miguel O’Reilly House, the Don Manuel Solana House, the Ximénez-Fatio House, and the Seguí-Kirby Smith House, which is now the St. Augustine Historical Society's Research Library. The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a reconstruction of the hospital that stood on Aviles Street during the Second Spanish Colonial Period. The street is lined with restaurants and art shops, showcasing local St. Augustine artists.
From 1572 to 1702, the Catholic parish church, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, faced Aviles Street just south of King Street.
The name for Aviles starting in the 1700s was Hospital Street because in the early 1700s, Don Francisco Menéndez Marquez, a wealthy treasury official in St. Augustine, owned a large two-story house that was converted into the Spanish Military Hospital after his death in 1743. In 1770, the British converted the hospital into a courthouse and jail, but it reverted to and was expanded as a hospital under Spanish rule during the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821). The Spanish Military Hospital included hot water, as well as rooms for soldiers, an apothecary shop, procedure rooms, a kitchen, and a morgue. The hospital operated until the original building burnt down in 1818. In 1924, as a tribute to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine, and because of the off-putting nature of the name, Hospital Street was renamed Aviles Street.
Today, Aviles Street is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the Gaspar Papy House, the Father Miguel O’Reilly House, the Don Manuel Solana House, the Ximénez-Fatio House, and the Seguí-Kirby Smith House, which is now the St. Augustine Historical Society's Research Library. The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a reconstruction of the hospital that stood on Aviles Street during the Second Spanish Colonial Period. The street is lined with restaurants and art shops, showcasing local St. Augustine artists.
Rights Holder
City of St. Augustine
Relation
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is located on this street.
The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is located on this street.
The St. Augustine Historical Society's Research Library is located on this street.
Source
The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:
Map 1 (c.1770s): Reynolds, Charles B. The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth. St. Augustine, FL: C.B. Reynolds, 1895.
Map 2 (1884): Bloomfield, Max. Bloomfield’s Illustrated Historical Guide, Embracing an Account of the Antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida (with map). To Which is Added a Condensed Guide of the St. John’s, Ocklawaha, Halifax, and Indian Rivers. St. Augustine, FL: Max Bloomfield, 1884.
Photograph 1 (c.1920s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2012.
Photograph 2 (c.1933-1937): Historic Picturesque St. Augustine Florida. Jacksonville, FL: Duval News Co., [1933-1937].
Photograph 3 (c.1942): Historical Old St. Augustine Florida. St. Augustine, FL: Florida Souvenir Company.
Photograph 4 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Aviles Street." June 17, 2025.
The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:
Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2008.
Gordon, Elsbeth “Buff.” Walking St. Augustine: An Illustrated Guide and Pocket History to America’s Oldest City. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2015.
“Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.” City of St. Augustine, Est. 1565. https://www.citystaug.com/795/Nuestra-Seora-de-los-Remedios.
Map 1 (c.1770s): Reynolds, Charles B. The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth. St. Augustine, FL: C.B. Reynolds, 1895.
Map 2 (1884): Bloomfield, Max. Bloomfield’s Illustrated Historical Guide, Embracing an Account of the Antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida (with map). To Which is Added a Condensed Guide of the St. John’s, Ocklawaha, Halifax, and Indian Rivers. St. Augustine, FL: Max Bloomfield, 1884.
Photograph 1 (c.1920s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2012.
Photograph 2 (c.1933-1937): Historic Picturesque St. Augustine Florida. Jacksonville, FL: Duval News Co., [1933-1937].
Photograph 3 (c.1942): Historical Old St. Augustine Florida. St. Augustine, FL: Florida Souvenir Company.
Photograph 4 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Aviles Street." June 17, 2025.
The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:
Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2008.
Gordon, Elsbeth “Buff.” Walking St. Augustine: An Illustrated Guide and Pocket History to America’s Oldest City. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2015.
“Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.” City of St. Augustine, Est. 1565. https://www.citystaug.com/795/Nuestra-Seora-de-los-Remedios.
Rights
Flagler College’s Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository are neither the original nor current copyright owner for the photographs. Please contact the publisher or source cited for each photograph to obtain a copy and/or permission to reproduce these items.
Is Referenced By
The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this historic site as a location:
The First Gentlemen of America
Gullible's Travels, Etc.
Love and Honors
Redfish Oak
Tales from the Oldest City: St. Augustine
Things that Hang from Trees
The First Gentlemen of America
Gullible's Travels, Etc.
Love and Honors
Redfish Oak
Tales from the Oldest City: St. Augustine
Things that Hang from Trees
Date Submitted
This record was last updated on June 18, 2025.
Collection
Citation
The Spanish, “Hospital Street,” St. Augustine Fiction, accessed July 19, 2025, https://staugustinefiction.omeka.net/items/show/291.