Barton Creek is the name of a small river and the area it flows through in
Cayo District,
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
. The river is a right tributary of
Belize River
The Belize River runs through the center of Belize. It drains more than one-quarter of the country as it winds along the northern edge of the Maya Mountains to the sea just north of Belize City (). The Belize river valley is largely tropical rai ...
. In the area with this name there are two
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
settlements: Lower and Upper Barton Creek. Both are settlements of very conservative
Mennonites in Belize
Mennonites in Belize form different religious bodies and come from different ethnic backgrounds. There are groups of Mennonites living in Belize who are quite traditional and conservative (e. g. in Shipyard and Upper Barton Creek), while other ...
.
Barton Creek Cave can also be found here.
Upper Barton Creek
Upper Barton Creek is a unique settlement of reformers from different
Anabaptist
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
backgrounds, who wanted to create a Mennonite community free of modernistic trends and in nonconformity to the world to live a simple Christian life. It was established in 1969 by
Plautdietsch speaking
"Russian" Mennonites. Following their
Ordnung
The Ordnung is a set of rules for Amish, Old Order Mennonite and Conservative Mennonite living. '' Ordnung'' () is the German word for order, discipline, rule, arrangement, organization, or system. Because the Amish have no central church governme ...
the Mennonites of Upper Barton Creek do not own any equipment with motors, including cars, nor do they use electricity. They farm with horses and both men and women wear
plain dress
Plain dress is a practice among some religious groups, primarily some Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show acceptance of traditional gender ...
similar to Old Order Mennonites and Amish with men wearing beards. The Mennonites of Upper Barton Creek are counted to the
Noah Hoover group, which originally is from central
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. In 2010 it had a population of 380.
Lower Barton Creek
Lower Barton Creek is a small village, that was founded in 1970 by Mennonites from
Shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
in Belize. It is home of the most conservative German speaking "
Russian Mennonite
The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...
s" in Belize. It is similar to conservative
Mennonite settlements in Bolivia. It had a population of about 150 in 1980, about 200 in 1985 and only about 100 in 1989, after many inhabitants left for Mennonite
colonies in Paraguay,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
and elsewhere. Its population stood at 193 in 2010.
Barton Creek Cave
Barton Creek Cave is a natural cave, known as both an archaeological site and as a tourist destination.
Literature
*Carel Roessingh and Tanja Plasil (Editors): ''Between Horse & Buggy and Four-Wheel Drive: Change and Diversity Among Mennonite Settlements in Belize, Central America'', Amsterdam 2009.
*Dale J. Nippert: ''Agricultural Colonization: The Mennonites of Upper Barton Creek, Belize'', Memphis 1994.
*Helmut Schneider: ''Tradition und Veränderung in Belize (Mittelamerika): ein soziologischer Vergleich der Gemeinden San Ignacio und Upper Barton Creek'', Berlin 1990.
*Karen Kingsbury: ''A Distant Shore'', New York 2021, (a suspense novel by NY Times Bestseller author Karen Kingsbury),
[ISBN 978-1-9821-0436-8]
References
{{reflist
Cayo District
German diaspora in North America
Rivers of Belize
Populated places established in 1969
Populated places established in 1970
Populated places in Cayo District
Cayo South
Mennonitism in Belize
Pennsylvania German culture
Russian Mennonite diaspora in Belize