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Abstract: Until the middle of the 19th century the area between the basilica of San Paolo and the gate in the city walls which also carries the name of Saint Paul appeared on maps as an agricultural area criss-crossed by pathways and country lanes and peppered with ancient ruins, farmhouses and country churches. After the proclamation of Rome as the capital city of the new Italian nation, a campaign of urban development began which definitively transformed this territory into what became Industrial Zone I of Rome, as declared by the General Regulatory Plan of Rome approved in 1883. In the following decades, the ambitious works for the creation of new infrastructures and industrial complexes were to profoundly alter the character of the area, almost completely destroying all trace of the ancient world. And yet this urban development, while causing an irreversible loss of precious remains of ancient structures, has at the same time given rise to fortuitous archeological discoveries, often very important ones. Through the study of archival documents recording the work carried out during this period along the via Ostiense, it is possible to reconstruct a rich archeological heritage which would otherwise be lost, and contribute to an improved picture of the ancient topography of the area.