In 1863, Manuel Jesus Castillo mortgaged 625 acres of Albion Island on the Río Hondo (including the village of San Antonio) to Young Toledo & Co. for $5864, and drew another $5864 the following year on the same property (Deed Bk 2). That same year he died, and Young Toledo & Co acquired the land. Meanwhile, however, Young Toledo & Co was encountering its own financial difficulties, and by 1880, when it dissolved, most of its lands had been purchased by the Belize Estate and Produce Company (BepCo) Bolland and Shoman 1977). Thus in 1874, Castillo’s son, Manuel Jesus, a logwood cutter from Orange Walk, purchased 625 acres from BepCo for $3000 (Deed Bk 4).[1]
In The Handbook of British Honduras 1888-89 it is stated that S. Castillo was appointed as Deputy Registrar for San Antonio in 1887.[2]
San Antonio is often referred to as San Antonio Rio Hondo to differentiate from other San Antonio's in Belize as seen in multiple documents such as the 1980 census.[3]
In 1949 the police force consisted of 1 officer.[4]
From at least 1917[5] to 1925 San Antonio had a catholic mission under the Church of the Immaculate Conception, from Settlement 260.[6]