Barton Creek is the name of a small river and the area it flows through in

Cayo District Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio. Geography Being ...

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 wa ...

. 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 ra ...

. 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 R ...

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 Barton Creek Cave is a natural cave in Belize, known as both an archaeological site and as a tourist destination. It is located in the upper Barton Creek area near San Ignacio in the Cayo District. Description Barton Creek Cave is a primaril ...

can also be found here.

Upper Barton Creek

Upper Barton Creek is a unique settlement of reformers from different

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the 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-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

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 Christianity, Christian churches in which people dress in clothes of traditional modest design, sturdy fabric, and conservative cut. It is intended to show acceptance of trad ...

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 ...

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