In the Summer 2024 issue of Paya Magazine, a piece titled “Island Planting Grounds” begins with the following: “Early on a windless Saturday morning in the 1980s, with the sea so calm that it is flat at the reef line, it occurs to you to feed the fish that collect around the gazebo at Fantasy Island. Many of you know the place.”

“Many of you know the place.” That sentence is equally applicable to all of Fantasy Island, particularly in the minds of Bay Islanders who have known the place since July 1989, where Sunday afternoons were spent on the Fantasy Island beach with a shrimp boil in full force beneath the coconut trees, and Saturday nights were spent beneath the giant circular palapa listening to live music. Now it is gone. At the same time, it somehow remains.

Fantasy Island was built by Albert Jackson, a native of French Harbour and a prominent Roatan businessman. Jackson also owned Mariscos Agua Azul, a seafood processing company. D.V. Woods, also of French Harbour, was charged with overseeing construction. Woods later became one of the island’s many avid participants in the annual fishing tournament now known as the Roatan International Fishing Tournament, a well-regarded and popular event that began at Fantasy Island. It was originally called the Roatan Fishing Tournament, and for the first 11 years, it was sponsored by the Fantasy Island Dive Resort and Marina and Texaco.

The resort hosted Roger Moore of James Bond.

The main structure of the original Fantasy Island Dive Resort and Marina was an L-shaped building. The lobby, reception and restaurant were located at the right angle of the L. The resort was initially geared toward visitors from the United States, and bookings were all-inclusive. Breakfast and lunch were buffet-style, with dinners served à la carte. The lunch buffets were served in the circular palapa instead of the restaurant, since patrons would usually have just come in from scuba diving. The lunch buffet options included standard fare and island staples, including fried fish, barbecued chicken, and beans and rice.

The resort’s first workers were locals, including kitchen staff. Many members of the original staff had relevant experience in the service industry, especially on cruise ships.

The resort opened to the public on Sundays. Folks came from around Roatan to enjoy the day on the beach and at the beach bars. These days centered around a boil of either shrimp, Spanish lobster caught in Honduran waters, or blue crabs caught in the Roatan bush. Thursday and Saturday nights featured special events under the palapa. A local band called Joseph and the Boys played live music. The favored music was country and western, calypso, reggae and soca. The lobby bar hosted weekly karaoke nights.

In the early years, most visitors to the resort were scuba divers from the United States. Over time, a steady clientele from mainland Honduras also developed. The Fantasy Island dive shop and marina were built along the west end of the key, with the dive shop originally run by Ben, a Garifuna from Punta Gorda.

The resort’s success led to later construction that added a marina and new rooms. During this time, the resort hosted Roger Moore, of James Bond fame, and Julio Iglesias. Those were the golden days of Fantasy Island for many of us.

As the Civil War ended in April 1865, orders came down the line: All Confederate officers and soldiers were to surrender their arms at a Union depot. This did not sit well with the Southerners, and many of them chose to hide their arms rather than surrender them.

The period between 1867 and 1869 saw the largest influx, with an estimated 300 to 1,000 Confederate refugees arriving in Belize alone. Many of those refugees continued on to the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, as all were under British rule. The Bay Islands were a less common choice.

The Bay Islands were no longer a British colony by that time. In 1859, the British signed a treaty with Honduras for that country to take over the Bay Islands in 1861. English speakers were allowed to remain without the threat of removal. They were permitted to keep their possessions and land, and they could continue their lives with the understanding that they would submit to Honduran law.

The Bay Islands were no longer a British colony by that time. In 1859, the British signed a treaty with Honduras for that country to take over the Bay Islands in 1861. English speakers were allowed to remain without the threat of removal. They were permitted to keep their possessions and land, and they could continue their lives with the understanding that they would submit to Honduran law.

Basically, the Bay Islanders were left to govern themselves. They were guaranteed freedom of religion and had few Hondurans to contend with. In the decades that followed, they built a remarkable society and established communities where many of their descendants still reside today.

Jackson left on a schooner from Charleston.

Joseph A. Jackson left on a schooner from Charleston, South Carolina, sometime in 1866. He sailed to the Bahamas and then continued on to Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. Jackson arrived in French Cay in the Roatan Bay Islands in late 1866 and took up residence on Big French Cay. He met a woman from Grand Cayman, and they were married. Their first son, William Jackson, was born in 1868. Their second son, Oliver Jackson, was born in 1871. Their third son, Joseph A. Jackson Jr., was born in 1874.

Joseph A. Jackson was wounded in the Civil War. He suffered a head wound that was treated with a silver plate fixed to his skull. One of his prized possessions when he arrived in French Cay was a military sword. Jackson died in 1878, and his widow returned to Grand Cayman with their three sons.

When they became young men, the paths of the three sons of Joseph A. Jackson diverged. While William stayed in the Cayman Islands, Oliver and Joe returned to Roatan. The two Roatanians married, had children of their own, and lived on Big French Cay.

Some years later, after a hurricane, Oliver moved across the bay to the main island. This is where the main town of French Cay is today. Joe remained on Big French Cay, where he raised several children. One of his sons was Darwin Jackson, who, as a young man, built a schooner and opened a store on Big French Cay. Schooners at the time were commonly used to bring supplies from the Cayman Islands and Belize to French Cay. Darwin Jackson was Albert Jackson’s father.

Albert Jackson worked hard as a young man. He built and owned many boats. He became a shrewd businessman and built a shrimp packing plant called Agua Azul. Early on, he saw the potential of tourism on the island and went on to build a resort with scuba diving tours called Fantasy Island Beach Resort. This resort put Roatan on the global tourism map and became popular with Central American presidents and U.S. government officials for hosting reunions and meetings.

Joseph A. Jackson’s Civil War sword was passed down through the generations and came into Albert Jackson’s possession in the 1990s. Albert was the great-grandson of Joseph A. Jackson, making him a direct descendant. Albert showed me the sword that same year in his office. I held the sword and removed it from its sheath. It was in perfect condition. As I held the sword, I couldn’t help but think back to all those Civil War battlefields that the sword was likely a part of. I wondered how it found its way, 130 years later, into the small town of French Harbour. Albert left his great-grandfather’s sword in good hands, and I will ensure it passes into good hands after me.

Upon closer inspection of the sword, it bears inscriptions on both sides of the handle. One side is engraved with the words “Mansfield and Lamb, Forrester, R.I.” An engraving on the other side reads “U.S.,” followed by the initials “C.E.W.” and the year “1865.”

Further research into Civil War-era weapons revealed that Mansfield and Lamb were manufacturers of swords and other military weapons from the 1840s to the 1860s. They sold these weapons to the U.S. Army and private buyers. The initials C.E.W. represent Charles E. Wilson, the person who inspected the sword.

I hope whoever possesses the sword in the future decides to unsheathe it on April 9, 2065, and remembers the history it represents 200 years later.