By Angel Nuñez
Was San Pedro R.C. Elementary School a ghost house? NEVA! This what I say today but not when I was a kid in the tiny village of San Pedro with a population of some four hundred and a school enrolment of eighty. Read on and find out.
Actually this photo of our primary School in the village is the second school building. The first was a two storey building at the same location- between the central park and the beach. The two storey building had a lifespan of some twenty years, sometime between the early twenties up until 1942. It was knocked down but not totally destroyed by the hurricane of 1942. Pictured here in the very first building is a teacher’s house and a grass lawn. Imagine a green lawn right on the beach of San Pedro.
First R.C. School Building
After the hurricane of 1942 the villagers got together and rebuilt the school into a one storey building with the same walls and windows. This building had a lifespan of 19 years from 1942 to 1961 when it was totally destroyed by the hurricane of 1961, Hurricane Hattie.
Now to the story of the ghost school! When we were kids our parent, all the parents of the village, assured the children of the day to keep a distance in the nights because often the ringing of the school bell was heard at nights on very windy days. With that in mind, many children also assured of hearing the peal of the bell, sort like a slight echo. The reason of the ghost under or inside the school building was that a soldier had been brutally stabbed under the building during a brawl.
That was enough for all the children to believe in the ghost. For one thing, I heard it once, and only once because never again did I pass by that building during the night. It was funny because during the day we were all comfortable in the school, but it was a different story during the night. The ghost of the soldier persisted in the village of San Pedro until 1961 when Hurricane Hattie went away with our beloved school building and the ghost as well. This is a true anecdote of San Pedro twenty five years ago.
25 Years Ago Books Can Be Purchased At:
-Ambergris Today Online Newspaper -Jose Luis Zapata Photography –Lala’s Store -Pampered Paws -San Pedro BTB Office -S.P. Town Library -Di Bush, A & R
Contact the Author at: nunez_nest@yahoo.com
