Sarteneja was established when 40 refugees fled from the Caste War of Yucatan in 1854.[1]
By 1993 Sarteneja had its own diesel power plant with three units totalling 0.4 MW.[2]
On November 8, 1942 a hurricane struck Sarteneja and did great damage.[3]
Hurricane Janet in 1955 is an important historic marker in the village as the destruction and the reconstruction that followed changed the character of the village from thatch-leaf houses to stone and concrete house.[1]
The Catholic School had 34 students in 1927 and 35 in 1928.[4][5]
In The Handbook of British Honduras 1888-89 it is stated that P. Aragon was appointed as Deputy Registrar for Sarteneja in 1887.[6]
From at least 1897[7] to at least 1945[8] Sarteneja was a mission of St. Francis Xavier's Church in Settlement 64[9][5], and in 2026 its Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church was a mission of St. Francis Xavier parish in Settlement 64.[10]
The Sarteneja Church is under the North Belize Mission Conference (Settlement 64) in the Belize Union Mission (Settlement 12) of the Inter-American Division (Miami, Florida) of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. In 2025 they had 147 members.[11]