History Webs
For the Drakenstein Valley
Categories
Italian Cross
The Italian Cross
on Huguenot Buttress in the Du Toitskloof Mountains
was first erected by Italian POWs building the Du Toitskloof Pass.
Their wooden cross was later replaced by a more permanent structure.
Agriculture
Gawie se Water In 1880 Gawie Retief completed an ambitious project on behalf of the Bovlei's farming community: to channel water from the Witterivier across the watershed into the Kromrivier more
Churches
Strooidak Church: Paarl
Toringkerk, Paarl
Moederkerk, Wellington
Customs
Holidays Christmas holidays on Paarl Mountain at Oukraal and Christmas Camp; traditionally wine farmers took their holidays at the coast.
Valentine's Day I visited Mrs "Bubbles" van Wyk of Paarl to see some very old hand-made Valentine's cards and documented the cards and contents more
Wellington's Coon Carnival - the article "After 100 years, the beat goes on" by Maggie Follett appeared in the Bolander, January 14, 2009 more
Industry, commerce and infrastruction
Hugo's jam factory The Lemietprojek held a Bain Street Story Evening at the Breytenbach Centre, Wellington more
Paarl's early photographers James F Goch was one of Paarl's first photographers. He lived in Wellington and in January 1880 placed an advertisement in the local newspaper to say that he would be in Paarl for twee weeks to take portraits more
Road network Some thoughts on Drakenstein's first roads more
Wagons
Paarl's wagon industry started
as small one-man businesses
employing one or two labourers. Most of
the businesses were in the area known as Droë Riem. In the late 1800s factory-style workshops opened in Lady Grey Street.
Read about
Wellington's wagon
builders Callie Theron and Hennie Ehlers.
Khoikhoi/ Koina/ Quena
Colonial work force A synopis of a research paper on the assimilation of the Khoikhoi into the labour force of the Drakenstein valley ... more
Mountains
Bainskloof Pass construction, convict labour, Gawie se Water
Du Toitskloof Italian Cross, history of the mountain pass, 1932 rescue of George Africa,
Franschhoek Pass history,
Paarl Mountain Christmas Camp, Meulwater, Jan Phillips Drive, the VOC cannon on Paarl Rock, the granite domes
under construction
News events
Fatal road accident On of Paarl's first fatal road accidents occured at a railway crossing called The Gate in Suider Paarl. Two teachers from La Rochelle Girls' High School were killed ... more
Great Flu Epidemic 1918 September 1918 marked the start of one of the world's greatest flue epidemics ... more
Mountain rescue In February 1932 George Africa was trapped for five days on a ledge in the Du Toitskloof Mountains. A rescue expedition was launched from the farm Keerweder ... more
South African War Wellington's blockhouse neglected ... more
People
Cairncross, Eddie was Wellington's postmaster from the early 1880s to the 1910s. Christine Siebrits' article Eddie Cairncross en die Wellington poskantoor appeared in the Paarl Post of 27 November 2008 ... more
De Villiers, Abraham Lochner (Braam) lived in Paarl in the early 1900s and was a famous couturier ... more
Gribble, James emigrated to South Africa from Cornwall, England in 1859 and opened a photographic studio in Hanover Street in Cape Town's District Six ... more
Properties
De Hoop, Main Street, Paarl. The farm was first allocated to the French Huguenot Jean Cloudon in 1692 ... more
Zuidmeer House on the corner of Patriot and Main Streets, Paarl was originally part of the farm Rozenfontein ... more
Schools
First schools
School life 100 years ago In the early 1900s La Rochelle was largely self sufficient, and managed a smallholding producing vegetables, meat and diary products on the school grounds to feed teachers, staff and hostel students ... more
Slavery at the Cape
Cape's first slaves The Dutch East India Company (VOC) made extensive use of slave labour in Batavia, but possibly due to cost considerations, did not assign any slaves to Jan van Riebeeck to start an outpost in Table Bay in 1652. Within weeks of his arrival Van Riebeeck asked for slaves to do the more arduous work ... more
Resistance and rebellion