St. Mary's Church on North Front Street in Belize City about 1925. Also a current photo and description of the area

May 3, 2021

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Looking down North Front Street, 2020. Same view exactly as the photo above.

1931 Sept. 10th, St. Mary Church, destroyed in the Hurricane.

A colored glass slide of Belize City, notice the St. Mary’s Church on the right side next to trees, probably the early 1920's. As you turn to the right it’s Gabourel Lane, and the now Tintin building (pink building in second photo below, recently taken) is the house you see on the immediate left at the corner in the middle of the picture. North Front Street runs along the bottom of the photo from the lower left to the front of St. Mary's, and Handyside goes off to the left at the fork with Gabourel Lane. Only street that has 4 names: begins with Daly St., next Handyside St., Gabourel Lane and ends with Angel Lane. Where the Red Cross building is currently, across from the Tintin building, there is just a small building and a grassy area.

View from Gabourel Lane, in front of St. Mary’s School, looking down Handyside Street. The Pink building is the Quintin "Tintin" Zelaya's shop across from the Red Cross building (old Stock family house). There's an alley on the left side called Muñoz Alley and you walk right into Majestic or Links Alley. From Munoz Alley you walk into Pinks Alley or Majestic Alley as some people call it and it takes you when you turn left into Pinks Alley and you come by North Front St. If you turn right from Munoz alley into Pinks alley it takes you to Queen St. There was another alley there call Brides Alley. This bright pink building is where students of St. Mary's School used to buy our ideal, fudge, hard time and goatshit, stretch mi guts. The green and white building on the right is the old Stock Family home, now the Red Cross.
Harold Usher: My mother operated a Sewing (seamstress) shop in the downstairs (lower level) of the pink building beside a Grocery store, in the late 40’s! That’s how I ended up attending St. Mary’s School from STD 1 to STD 6!

Original Design for St. Mary's before the construction of the brick structure that was destroyed by the 1931 hurricane. Photo from the George Clarke Collection.

Original Design for St. Mary's before the construction of the brick structure that was destroyed by the 1931 hurricane. Photo from the George Clarke Collection.

Dora Riverol: The Church in the picture just above was a wooden building that burnt down replaced by the one made of brick in the pic below which was then totally demolished by the 1931 hurricane. The International Hotel was across the street to the right and where Brown Sugar is today. Coincidentally, the other large hotel in that vicinity was to the right across the street. It was another three story building. It was called the "Continental" or the "Colonial." The Lainfiesta was another large hotel in that area.

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