I've spent several months off and on using google.com to go back and forth across the country from South to North to find every single city, town, village or abandoned encampment laid out in accordance with the Spanish Law of the Indies.
A secret for you ~ there ain't many of them ~ but there's a cluster in Southern Indiana, and maybe even a La Villa Real!
With few exceptions there was No Spanish activity North of the Ohio East of the Mississippi AFTER 1604 ~ so this is all 1500s stuff in that part of the country ~ a full blown Secret History where everything you are going to find out about it is in the Prado or the Vatican.
I think it's worth continuing since this may attract the interest of some of the local or state historical societies.
New Jersey appears to have DOZENS OF these places along the shore in the South, but they require far more analysis. That area has been repeatedly resettled! My current hypothesis is this area is the site of a previously unrecognized settlements by folks from THE SPANISH NETHERLANDS ~ after 1621 they'd just disappear into the mix of peoples coming to America. The Jamestown scribes may have recorded something about this when they referred to land to the North having 20,000 European settlers (which could mean what we know today as Maryland).
What these guys are digging up may be helpful.
If a large group of vilunteers, archaeologists, students and interested people did it like a wiki project I think it could work.
Do you have a link to the "layout" portion of the laws? I can't find one.
A secret for you ~ there ain't many of them ~ but there's a cluster in Southern Indiana, and maybe even a La Villa Real!
Which ones in Southern Indiana? Would be a good day trip for the child.
cool! How do you do that? I live in NJ and the shore area history is facinating. I’ve read books about it. Love it down there.