A Florida construction crew found a 19th-century boat buried 8 feet underground next to a mini-golf course

• Florida road workers unearthed a 19th century ship while digging up a road next to a mini-golf course.
• The fishing vessel was almost completely intact and impeccably preserved in mud and soil.

A Florida Department of Transportation crew digging a trench for a sewage line near a mini-golf course made a surprise discovery: a nearly-intact fishing boat believed to be from the mid to late 1800s, the agency said in a press release.

The wooden vessel was found 8 feet underground in St. Augustine, near the bank of the Matanzas River and right next to a mini-golf course and a tourist attraction that offers pirate-themed boat rides for kids.

St. Augustine, a small town with a population of about 15,000 people, is the "oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin" in the US, dating back to 1565, according to the town's website.

Greg Evans, the secretary of the local district, said in a press release that the DOT is always on the lookout for potential historical finds since the town is so old.

An archeological firm called SEARCH was hired to carry out the excavation process, which unearthed broken bottles, shoes, wood fragments, and an oil-fired lantern from the shipwreck, according to the transportation department.

"We believe the vessel to be a small single-masted, shallow-draft sailing craft of the 19th century that was likely used to extract fish and shellfish from coastal waterways and directly offshore," Dr. James Delgado, who led the excavation, said in SEARCH's press release.

Delgado told CNN that his team believes the boat was originally about 28 feet long, though it was 19 feet long when discovered.

"We believe the vessel may have sank unexpectedly and, over time, was silted in. That is why it was preserved so well — it was encapsulated in soil and mud, so there was no air contact for it to decay. It's truly an incredible find," Evans said in SEARCH's press release.

The transportation department said the ship will be kept in wet storage to preserve the wood and give archeologists a chance to analyze and preserve the find.