Burrell Boom is on the
Belize River twenty miles above
Belize City,
Belize
Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...
. Tourists pass through this historic village on their way to the
Community Baboon Sanctuary, where the population of
black howler monkeys has grown to over 2,000.
Demographics
At the time of the 2010 census, Burrell Boom had a population of 2,218. Of these, 50.8% were
Creole, 25.2%
Mestizo
( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
, 15.2%
Mixed, 2.6%
East Indian, 1.3%
African, 1.3%
Caucasian, 1.0%
Garifuna, 0.8%
Asian, 0.4%
Ketchi Maya, 0.3%
Mennonite
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
, 0.1%
Yucatec Maya and 0.1% others.
History
During the 18th century, loggers settled along the Belize River, floating
logwood and later
mahogany logs down to
Belize Town. Burrell Boom grew as a gathering and milling point for these logs, with its
boom stretched across the river.
In 1837 the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
ministers Thomas Jefferies and John Greenwood built a chapel in Burrell Boom, and
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
missionary activities ensued along the whole Belize River from the mid-nineteenth century.
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
, Methodist, and Catholic communities in town gather for an ecumenical service which rotates among the churches. A number of refugees from neighboring republics have settled near the town and drawn Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
on mission to the area.
After 2000 the link between the Northern and Western highways was improved, passing near to Burrell Boom and bringing the village greater prominence.
Climate
Burrell Boom has a tropical monsoon climate.
References
Populated places in Belize District
Belize Rural North
{{Belize-geo-stub