 According to Halbirt and Deagan, the high-ground position of the site — and artifacts discovered there — suggest that the property was inhabited by St. Augustine's upper class from the beginning of the colonial period and that there was continual activity in the centuries that followed.Archaeological evidence of how people lived in 1800s St. Augustine helped to confirm the interpretation of the property as a boarding house.For example, animal bones in abandoned trash pits provided clues to what was served on the table, shards of china helped identify the pattern used during Sarah Petty Anderson's ownership, and a cache of silver buttons and pins led to the discovery of a laundry shed footprint.