Once upon a time Pedro was the name of the districts that bordered the seacoast from Great Bay to Belize Bay, and as far north as the Police Station. This was a severely depressed area, and It was not considered fashionable to admit that one "came from Pedro". As a teen age attending high school in Kingston I was ribbed by my peers for being a "red boy from Pedro".I never felt red or deprived, nor did I ever eat bamboo root as I was accused of. I was told by fellow St Elizabeth students that beggars from Pedro frequently went through their districts soliciting gifts of clothing and money form homes in their districts. This is a fact that I really can attest to because I happen to know some of the individuals who went begging.
One day a young Canadian visitor arrived in Pedro. His name was Ernest Dicker and he was suffering from asthma. He was looking for an place that enjoyed climatic conditions that was favourable to his condition.
My grandfather Robert (Bobby) James whose spacious home is now the site of the Hamilton family home, was a well to do cattle man, allowed this visitor to set up a tent on his front lawn while he searched for seafront property to purchase. He wanted to build a hotel. Grandma had some land that suited his purpose, and they sold it to him and agreed to feed him while he embarked on his building plan. Dicker wanted to name his hotel "Treasure Beach Hotel" and he arranged to change the name of the Post Office form Pedro Plains PO to Treasure Beach PO. There was no community involvement or authority solicited , it was just done quietly.
In those days Pedro Plains post office serviced a very extensive area,as large as is now being called Treasure Beach. The idea was to make it easy for mail to reach Treasure Beach Hotel, if the post office had the same name.
After the hotel was completed Dicker posted billboards at strategic locations that directed people to the hotel.Starting at Pepper , signs went up with arrows indicating the direction of travel to reach the hotel.
Dicker lived in the area for many years, married a local girl, had four children by that marriage. He returned to his native country Canada,died there many years ago. His widow and their children still reside in Toronto , Canada, and visit from time to time.

That was quite an interesting read Raymond. History is always a fascinating and intriguing subject, especially when you lived it.

Enjoyed the posting Mr. James! Thank you so much for sharing this interesting information.

How did Vill Dicker get his surname? RIP mas Vill.

I suggest you ask Miss Pearly if she is sill alive.

Vill(Neville) got the name Dicker from his father who was the son of the elder Mr Dicker.

Mr Dicker was the first owner of the treasure beach hotel,that is how treasure beach got its name. He was the father of Ville , miss Pearly was his mother,he had a brother named Nedo his mother was miss Pearly's sister whose name was Avis. growing up in treasure beach in the forties, fifties and sixties

That's a nice story. How about some dates to put everything in perspective.

I was told that if a bucket is inverted over a just sprung bamboo shoot and left for a while with a weight on top, a white twisted and edible 'cabbage' will be produced. Was that what some referred to as the eating of bamboo root.

Or was it the image of tough times?

I have memories of people from the Potsdam area referring to Treasure Beach as "Lowland". The word was not used as descriptive but was the actual name used for the area. I remember feeling a little demeaned hearing my home turf described in such a lowly way.

Thanks to Mr.Raymond James for the many delightful memories of my childhood home.I have often tried to figure out which James you may be,now I am much closer,you see Bobby James was my fathers uncle.I can still see him on his big brown horse wearing knee length leather boots and carrying his long shot gun to shoot goats that may be on his land,so you see Mr. James,I now know you are my CUZ and that you are older than I thought.I have always enjoyed your insightful postings. THANKS a million.Jenny Reynolds Nelson.

Greetings Jenny! I know that you are Pepper's daughter, and I vaguely remember you as a little girl. I am now eighty years old, so I decided to write a few short stories about Treasure Beach before the grim reaper comes to get me. Love you cuz.