Belize City History

Maya Civilization

The Mopan Maya were the original inhabitants of Belize. The Maya civilization spread itself over Belize beginning around 1500 BC, and flourished until about AD 900. Archaeologists estimate that at its peak, between 1 and 2 million Mayas lived within the borders of today's Belize.

During this time, the Maya created several large cities, the ruins of which are visible today:

Lamanai, meaning "Submerged Crocodile," lies along the banks of the New River Lagoon in the Orange Walk district. Lamanai features monumental architecture of temples and palaces dating from the Classic and pre-Classic periods, and is one of Belize's largest and most beautiful ceremonial sites. Caracol, meaning "the Snail," is located in the Chjiquibul National Park in the Cayo district. Carocol was home to 150,000 people, and is the largest Maya center in Belize and has a dominant place in Maya history. Xunantunich, meaning "Maiden of the Rock," is also located in the Cayo district. It was an important ceremonial center in the Classic period.

Small agricultural communities farmed the land between the larger cities.

During the Post-Classic period (1000 to 1500 AD), the civilization fell apart and disappeared.

Spanish Discovery & British Settlements

On his fourth voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus sailed along the coast of Central America in the summer months of 1502. He arrived at Guanaja (Isla de Pinos) in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras on July 30. He found native merchants and a large canoe, which was described as "long as a galley" that was filled with cargo. On August 14, he landed on the American mainland at Puerto Castilla, near Trujillo, Honduras. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before heading for Panama. In the process, he christened the waters at the southern part of the barrier reef the "Bay of Honduras."

The first settlers in Belize were English puritans, who established trading posts along the coast of Belize. In the late 1600s, English pirates began to settle in the area where Belize City is now located.

The pirates found Belize to be hospitable territory, because they could lie in wait for Spanish galleons just outside the Belize barrier reef. After raiding their target ships, they would flee back through the reefs in their smaller ships. The larger Spanish ships could not pursue the pirates for fear of wrecking their ships on the reefs.

The many small islands in the reef were also excellent hiding grounds, where they could obtain fresh water, find shelter during storms, hunt for fresh meat or just relax and drink their rum.

Eventually, the logging of Mahogany trees proved to be more lucrative--and safer--than pirating, and they came to settle at the mouth of the Belize River to harvest the hardwood. They named their settlement "Belize Town" in the mid-17th century. The location proved to be ideal for the British, because it was on the sea and a natural outlet for the trees to be shipped downstream.

Belize Town was never intended to be a permanent settlement, as the city is only a few inches below sea level. Historians say that Belize City is built on a foundation of loose coral, logwood chips and rum bottles.

African slaves were imported to Belize to help in the logging operations. The buccaneers established their camps on the sea front, while the slaves were located on the south side of the Belize River (now called Haulover Creek in its last 4 miles from the sea).

The buccaneers came to calling themselves "Baymen," after the Bay of Honduras. The Baymen led a wild life, often going on drinking binges that would last a week.

The Spanish made many efforts to expel the Baymen from Belize. In 1739, Spanish soldiers cut off the ear of Robert Jenkins, an English captain. When Jenkins took the ear back home, pickled, and showed it to the House of Commons, thus began "The War of Jenkins Ear" between England and Spain, which raged until 1748.

Treaties were signed in 1763 and 1786 that allowed the British to continue harvesting timber in exchange for protection against pirates preying on the Spanish galleons.

The final battle between the Baymen and the Spanish took place on September 10, 1798, on St. George's Caye, just off the coast of Belize City. In the 2 hour battle, British ships manned by Baymen and armed slaves defeated the Spanish warships that stormed through the channel. To this day, the anniversary of the Battle of St. George’s Caye Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Belize.

Christopher Columbus

The Colonial Period

Following the Battle of St George's Caye, more African slaves were brought to Belize, and the number of European immigrants increased substantially. A census taken in 1790 showed that 75% of the population were slaves, 10% white, and the remaining 15% were free blacks and people of mixed races. The total population at the time was around 3,500 people.

The slave trade was abolished in 1807, and over the next 25 years the number of slaves decreased by a third to 2,000. In 1838, the slaves of Belize were emancipated, as they were throughout the British empire.

It was at this time that Belize City begun to develop into a community that, 200 years later, has changed very little. As the development of Belize became more organized, it also became more multiethnic. The European settlers intermarried with the freed slaves, forming the Creole majority that remains dominant in the population. In the 1840s, Britain declared Belize to be the colony of British Honduras.

The logging of mahogany trees was the principal economic activity in Belize throughout the colonial period. The fortunes of Belize were subject to the fluctuating prices of the hardwood, and booms and busts were frequent. The British settlers imported almost everything they needed to live and work.

During the colonial period, Belize saw spurts of immigration. The Garifuna people, also known as the "Black Caribs," migrated to Belize from the Bay Islands of Honduras in 1832, and settled along the southern coast of Belize. In the late 1840s, immigrants from Mexico moved into Belize, refugees from the War of the Castes in the Yucatan. In the late 1860s, a small band of Confederate Civil War veterans settled in Punta Gorda. And in the late 19th century, Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian immigrants found their way to Belize, becoming merchants in towns and cities throughout the country.

Mahogany Tree

Belize City in the 20th Century

By the early 1900s, Belize had grown to nearly 40,000 inhabitants. During World War I, many of its citizens fought alongside the British in their fight against the Germans.

Belize City's iconic Swing Bridge was built in 1922, connecting the city's north and south sides.

In 1926, Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, commonly known as "Baron Bliss," died aboard his luxury yacht in Belize City's harbor. He was a wealthy Englishman who, having never stepping foot on Belizean soil (owing to the polio he had contracted), bequeathed $2 million, the bulk of his fortune, to the people of Belize in appreciation for the care he received in his last days. His gift resulted in the construction of the Bliss Institute (a performing arts center), the city's Bliss Lighthouse (where Bliss's tomb is located), the Bliss School of Nursing and various other medical facilities around the country.

Belize City has had an unfortunate history of calamities that have befallen the town. During the 19th century, fires periodically burned vast swatches of the city, and epidemics of yellow fever, smallpox and cholera took a large toll. On September 10, 1931, during the celebration of the Battle of St. George's Caye, Belize was struck by a devastating hurricane that flooded the city and killed almost 15% of the population. In 1961, Belize City was hit by Hurricane Hattie, a Category 5 hurricane, razing most of the city. Hundreds of people lost their lives, and tens of thousands were left homeless.

As a result of Hurricane Hattie, the government decided to relocate the capital from Belize City to Belmopan, in the interior of the country. Nonetheless, Belize City remains the commercial capital of the country.

The depression of the 1930s hit Belize particularly hard. And when combined with the devastation of the 1931 hurricane, the residents of Belize looked to Britain for assistance. After all, the hurricane had turned Belize City into an unlivable swamp of mud roads and overflowing sewers, with malaria, dysentery and yellow fever taking lives. But little assistance from their colonial masters was to come.

As a result, political organizations and labor unions began to form, with independence from Britain their ultimate aim. The People's United Party was formed in 1949, and when universal suffrage was granted in 1954, the PUP garnered the support of 70% of the population and came to dominate the local legislative assembly. In 1964, Britain granted Belize control of the local government and set the course for independence. In 1973, the colony's name was changed from British Honduras to Belize.

On September 21, 1981, Belize was finally granted its independence, and the new country was inducted into the Commonwealth.

Belize City Lighthouse

Today's Belize City

Numerous infrastructure projects have been slowly improving the lives of the residents of Belize City. Nevertheless, Belize City remains a somewhat dodgy city awaiting new calamities to befall it.

In the past 20 years, Belize has become a mecca for eco-tourists. Cruise ship traffic has increased substantially, and the country's many natural resources and resilient inhabitants have beguiled travelers.