# History In 1935 a rice mill was erected at Punta Gorda.https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/05/43/44/00001/AA00054344_00001.pdf --1935-- ## Sagastume Incident In January 1962, Francisco Sagastume, a political opponent of President Ydigoras Fuentes and unsuccessful candidate for the constituency of Petén, arrived with 19 Guatemalan followers and one renegade Belizean at the village of [[settlement:201(1963)]]. There he announced that liberation was at hand. On receiving the news 10 of the party discreetly returned to Guatemala in the rain, whilst the leader and the others went on to [[settlement:224(1963)]]. In [[settlement:201(1963)]] he had solemnly burned photographs of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, together with a Union Jack. Having thus symbolically destroyed the British Empire, he should not have been surprised that the Indians in [[settlement:224(1963)]] were hostile. Their ancestors had left Guatemala three generations ago to avoid conscription by press gang methods and the forced loans that were then common in Central American politics. The party was requested to leave town, and the local policeman provided them with a truck to do so. They went to within three miles of [[settlement:202(1963)]], and abandoned the vehicle, having run out of petrol. The leader and three others were rounded up the next day by the police of [[settlement:202(1963)]], which were backed up by a detachment of the Royal Hampshire Regiment. One of the men had already given himself up, and the rest were captured a day later. In March 1962 they were tried in the [[settlement:79(1963)]] Assizes of the Supreme Court before the Chief Justice. Sagastume and his Belizean accomplice received sentences of 10 years' hard labour. Two of the Guatemalans were bound over to keep the peace and seven were acquitted. The leader and his aide served about nine months of their sentence, and in December 1962 petitioned the Governor of British Honduras for pardon, which was granted. The prompt movement of troops and the complete serenity of the people of Belize, who made no manifestations outside the Guatemalan Consulate, did not pass unnoticed in Guatemala, where the Government maintained a correct attitude of detachment from the whole affair.https://ia601502.us.archive.org/27/items/british-honduras-gregg/BritishHondurasGregg.pdf ## Punta Gorda Free Zone Since the mid 1980’s, it was home to a state of the art radio transmission facility used by the Voice of America to beam the U.S. worldview to a turbulent Central America. But when the Belize government declined to allow its conversion into a propaganda platform aimed at Cuba, the lease was cancelled in 2002 and the one hundred and forty acre site reverted to Belizean control.https://klein.org/galleries/belize-1990/ In january of 2003, the government decided that the fully cleared and fenced parcel, a mile south of Punta Gorda, would be home to a free zone for production, commerce and tourism. BELTRAIDE would handle the initial management of the project, which included several offices, residences and utility buildings, along with twenty, two hundred foot transmission towers and a one point two megawatt diesel generation plant.https://archive.channel5belize.com/archives/15791 ## Boundaries 2001, March 1 - Town boundaries modified and [[settlement:467]] incorporated into PG.https://elections.gov.bz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Chapter-87S-Town-Councils-Act-Subsidiary-Act.pdf 2025, April 1 - All towns in Belize had their boundaries updated.https://www.greaterbelize.com/new-municipal-boundaries-declared-for-seven-towns-in-belize/ ## Council In 1888 the First Alcalde was Lopez Nunez, the Second Alcalde was Isidro Florencio.The Handbook for British Honduras for 1888-89, p113 ## Etymology **Punta Gorda **is named after the coastal point Punta Gorda and was declared a town on January 21, 1895, as **Punta Gorda Town**.https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/348871468210274213/txt/IPP4320v20P1111BLIC10LCR1SA1P111928.txt # Infrastructure ## Transportation Improved mail and passenger services by motor vessels were established in 1924, the routes being [[settlement:12]]-[[settlement:64]]-[[settlement:186]] and [[settlement:12]]-[[settlement:79]]-[[settlement:387]]-[[settlement:172]]-[[settlement:202]]. These services were subsidized by the government and mail was carried under contract.https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/acv/contents/pub/pdf/B02/B02032223100.ba0141a.a-0980.00000198.pdf # Religious Institutions In 1862, Father John Genon, a native of Belgium, settled in Punta Gorda and built the first church among the Caribs.https://ia800600.us.archive.org/17/items/ThePilgrimOfOurLadyOfMartyrsVolXIX1903/ThePilgrimOfOurLadyOfMartyrsVolXIX1903.pdf ## Vicariate Apostolic of British Honduras **St. Peter Claver's Church** Reverends - 1917-1927 Rev. Herman Tenk, S.J. - 1917-1918 Rev. Joseph Fenoughty, S.J. - 1925-1927 Rev. Allan A. Stevenson, S.J.https://dn710208.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-official-catholic-diectory-1925/The%20Official%20Catholic%20Diectory%201925.pdf **Missions** - [[settlement:2(1927)]] (1927-1928) - [[settlement:489(1925)]] (1917-1928) - [[settlement:10(1925)]] (1917-1928) - [[settlement:81(1927)]] (1927-1928) - [[settlement:415(1925)]] (1917-1925) - [[settlement:224(1925)]] (1917-1928) - [[settlement:172(1925)]] (1917-1928) - [[settlement:99(1927)]] (1927-1928) - [[settlement:256(1927)]] (1927-1928) - [[settlement:72(1927)]] (1927-1928) # Social Services ## Education The Catholic School had 159 students in 1927 and 195 in 1928.Catholic Directory 1927Catholic Directory 1928 ## Police In 1949 the police force consisted of 8 officers, with transportation consisting of 1 motorcycle.https://ia801001.us.archive.org/20/items/colonial-report-brit-honduras-1948/ColonialReportBritHonduras1948.pdf