  On Friday, November 17, 1998 San Pedro will once again put on its festive hat and will proudly celebrate its 14th year as a town. The village of San Pedro was founded in 1848 by Mestizo refugees fleeing from the Guerra de Castas in the Yucatan. These refugees quickly settled in this area and immediately made it their home. The lifestyle of the locals then started uphill from the workers of the Logwood and Chicle Industry to the Coconut Industry which was the then central economy of Ambergris Caye. This was followed by the Lobster and Fishing Industry and the addition of the Fishing Co-operative. Throughout this evolution, San Pedro Village was headed by a Village Council consisting of seven appointed members. These appointees represented the people of the village before Central Government. San Pedro's development was rapid and as a village not much support was given to the island by Central Government, even though San Pedro paid thousands of dollars in export duty from the Fishing Co-operative. At the time San Pedro Village was supplied with only one police officer and a nurse from time to time. After analyzing the situation carefully (many economic and social studies were made) the San Pedro Village Council approached Central Government. They voiced their thoughts and presented their studies with the intentions of having San Pedro Village be promoted to town status. As expected their request was denied. San Pedro Village continued to progress with the birth of tourism, thus increasing reasons for the Village Council to continue with their request. Tourism was attracting more earnings to the country with only little in return to San Pedro Village. A town status would give San Pedro more say in running their affairs. It meant we could generate more local taxes and they would stay in San Pedro. The Village Council was persistent and after a long eight years, their cries were answered. Central Government agreed to promote San Pedro Village to town status. A public signing and ceremony were held November 27th, 1984 at Central Park. Present were Village Councilors and San Pedro Village Council Chairman, Mr. Gilberto Gomez who automatically became the first mayor of San Pedro Town. Also present were mayors of other towns throughout the country. Today San Pedro Town has grown to be Belize's hottest vacation destination, attracting thousands of tourists all year long from all over the globe. San Pedro Town continues to grow and thanks to the hard work of the San Pedro Village Council, once again we will celebrate yet another year as SAN PEDRO TOWN. The San Pedro Town Board has put together a great program at Central Park for this day. Everyone is invited to join in this joyous affair. HAPPY 14 TH BIRTHDAY SAN PEDRO TOWN.
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