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Orange Walk claims to be sugar city but the sugar industry got its start in the south. That’s right - in the 19th century, Belize was exporting sugar from the south. It was specifically from the village of Sittee River where Belize’s first steam powered mill was established in 1863. It was called Serpon – owned by a Scottish man but operated by Belizeans until about 1910 when it was abandoned and it seems disappeared from memory and the pages of history. That was until today when it was officially declared an archaeological reserve. 7News went south and Keith Swift has the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
The Serpon Sugar Mill is located about 1 mile in on the Sittee River access road. Components of the mill like these 19th century boilers are now just rusty artefacts hidden in the bushes. But about 100 years ago, Serpon was at the epicentre of Belize’s industrial era.

Dr. Jaime Awe, Director of Archaeology
“Serpon Sugar Mill marks the site where industrialization was introduced to Belize. Prior to the establishment of this historic sugar mill, all other mills in this country were driven more by animal power. When Serpon was constructed, the idea was to establish this as an industry that was going to be steam powered. So the use of steam to power machinery was introduced to Belize via Serpon.”

Duncan McPherson, Sittee River Village Chairman
“From what we know, slaves used to operate this sugar mill and from what we heard today, a lot of Scottish people were involved and if notice even today in Sittee River you have a lot of McPherson, McDougal, McKenzie, McNab – all of those are from Scottish origins. So that tells you that this site is directly linked to the present day Sittee River.”

Serpon with its steam powered boilers, its furnace, and the locomotive was bustling – exporting commercial quantities of sugar from the south.

Dr. Jaime Awe,
“It is also one of the areas where the sugar industry really, when I say the sugar industry not necessarily the first place where sugar was planted but where the sugar industry first took hold. Eventually we know that the sugar industry moved out of the southern part of Belize and then got re-established in northern Belize. So from that aspect too I think that Serpon is a very important landmark in our past.”

George Thompson, Assoc. Dir. – Institute of Archaeology
“From the records that we have had, this area processes approximately 400 acres of sugar which it those days it was measured in terms of hundred weights so a site like this would produce you know on a monthly basis probably 1700 weights or it was referred to as hog heads, they were shipped in huge tanks called hog heads and so we can say they worked approximately 400 acres of land here and producing about 1700 pounds of sugar on a monthly basis.”

98 year old Cristibal Requena is one of the few remaining Belizeans who was alive when the mill was working. We tracked her down at her home in Silk Grass.

Cristibal Requena, Grew Up in Sittee River
“My father was a captain and he used to do the work because the white people that came to do the work, some of them didn’t know how to do the machines.”

Keith Swift,
So you were alive when this mill was working?

Cristibal Requena,
“Yes. I used to be around with my daddy.”

Keith Swift,
So you saw the mill operating?

Cristibal Requena,
“Yes.”

Dr. Jaime Awe,
“Shortly after its establishment, Serpon was doing incredibly well. In fact because it was steam powered, production was going strong, they were shipping sugar out of the country, at that time but then not too long after, beet sugar was introduced into Europe and into North America and it dropped the price of sugar so much that it was no long profitable to operate the mills like Serpon and the owners eventually just could not make a profit and so the mill was closed down and subsequently abandoned to nature.”

After the Serpon Sugar Mill was abandoned in the early 1900s it was left here to rot. The sugar mill stood here idle for nearly one hundred years. That was until the late 1990s when Mexicans began looting it for copper and that’s when villages and archaeologists began clamouring for its designation as a national reserve.

Duncan McPherson,
“It is our history. It is our history. This is where it all started, this is where the present day Sittee started from. Our ancestors used to be workers here. Although they might have been slaves, because slaves used to operate this mill, and probably when slavery was abolished they were still here and today they formed the present day Sittee River.”

Hon. Melvin Hulse, Area Representative
“I need for the nation to appreciate, it was only Sittee River people on their own who identified for 15 years what is here for us to protect it and that is what we have done.”

It was made official this morning when Culture Minister Manuel Heredia signed documents officially declaring the sugar mill as an archaeological reserve. For the Institute of Archaeology’s Director Jaime Awe it was historic. For Florence Gabourel who’s lived in Sittee River all her life and saw the relics of the mill for the first time today – it was a moment of pride.

Dr. Jaime Awe,
“Whenever people have heard of the Institute of Archaeology they quickly identify us with prehistoric Maya sites. I think that Serpon marks a sort of move away from that image and for us it is very important because the importance of us establishing a park like this is to highlight the fact that the cultural diversity of Belize is incredibly rich and Serpon is no less important than any of the other parks that we have. There is a lot to be learnt here from a period not too long ago when Belize was struggling to enter into modern times.”

Florence Gabourel, Sittee River Resident
“I am so amazed that we have such a good thing. It is amazes me. First first time I see it. I never came here until today. I feel so happy for my village today. I feel a bit proud. I am so proud today.”

Dr. Jaime Awe,
“I think that these parks eventually make people learn to make people appreciate what we have in Belize and it also makes them more interested in helping us to preserve the past for the future.”

The mill was restored with a US$55,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy. It is interesting to note that the land that Serpon sits on was sold a few years ago to a private investor who wanted to clear it to plant citrus. Government later swapped the land in exchange for another piece. The Serpon Archaeological Reserve is now open to the public. We should note that there was another steam powered mill, this one named the Regalia. That too was abandoned.