Shipyard is the most populous Old Colony Mennonite colony in Belize. It is situated between the August Pine Ridge Road and the New River. A dry weather road follows the New River to Orange Walk Town.
Shipyard was one of the first three major Mennonite settlements established in British Honduras in 1958 (alongside Blue Creek and Spanish Lookout). Settlers were Old Colony Mennonites from Chihuahua and Durango states in Mexico.[1] A delegation from the Reinländer and Kleine Gemeinde Churches in Chihuahua negotiated with the British Honduran government in early 1957; a formal agreement was signed in December 1957. Key concessions included freedom of religion, the right to operate churches and schools in their German dialect (Plautdietsch), exemption from immigration deposits and social security, protection of life and property, and freedom of movement.[2] The first group arrived 12 March 1958.[3]
By 1960 the colony numbered 663 persons on 17,083 acres with six line villages.[3][2]
By August 1959, the Shipyard Mennonites had cleared 617 acres, or .036% of their property. More than half of the cleared acreage, 315 acres, was planted with corn. Shipyard and Blue Creek together supplied about 80 cases of eggs per week for British Honduran and Mexican markets.
In 1960 most of the agricultural trade was destined for Chetumal, Mexico while only a minor amount of goods was sold in British Honduras. [3]
By 2012 the main crops were sorghum, corn and rice. They also produced tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, sweet peppers and other vegetables.[2]
Livestock is also a major source of income, there are also several sawmills that provide lumber for houses and furniture. Carpenters and blacksmiths, several retail stores and two dentists are also part of the settlement.[2]
Shipyard derives it's name from Shipyard, a logging camp that used to exist on the banks of the New River.
In 1978 the daughter colony of Little Belize was founded to alleviate land constraints in Shipyard.[1]
In 1998 the daughter colony of Indian Creek was established.
In 2011 the daughter colony of Neuland was established to the east of Shipyard, close to Little Belize.[1]
There are more daughter colonies in other countries. Nueva Esperanza in Bolivia and Shipyard in Peru.[1]
In the 2020s there was a great interest in founding a settlement in Suriname. By 2024 the Surinamese government had approved a small pilot project that would allow the settlement of fifty Mennonite families, but in February the government decided to rethink the project, which was opposed by conservation groups and Indigenous communities [1]
By 2025 the Mennonites of Shipyard, Indian Creek and other Mennonite settlements in Bolivia had been able to find a backdoor to settle in Suriname. About 147.7 sq km was going to be purchased by Shipyard. The most conservative families were planning to leave Shipyard for Suriname to preserve their lifestyles that had been eroding over the years, leaving Shipyard to become a progressive community.[4]
A dry-weather road runs parallel to the west bank of the New River, connecting Shipyard to Orange Walk Town (roughly 15 miles north). On the west side a road connects to the August Pine Ridge Road.
The New River itself historically served as a highway when the road was impassable. Modern access is via the Guinea Grass Road, which turns off the Philip Goldson Highway just south of Orange Walk Town. Internal roads are bumpy limestone, still used by horse-drawn buggies, flatbed carts, and steel-wheeled tractors.
In 2006 a documentary of Mennonites in Belize was filmed with interviews of residents in Spanish Lookout, Lower Barton Creek, Blue Creek, Shipyard and Little Belize.[5]
In 1960 two Mennonite nurses maintained a clinic in Orange Walk Town for Blue Creek and Shipyard, but the financing of this facility was difficult at the time.[3]