Principal Town of the Magisterial District and Division of George, on the Garden Route 439 km from Cape Town, 1252 km from Durban and 1213 km from Johannesburg. It is on the Railway Line from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, 51 km North-East of Mossel Bay and 72 km South-East of Oudtshoorn. It has an altitude 225 metres Above Sea Level and receives about 864 mm of rain per Year. George is also the junction for the 68 km branch line along the Coast to Knysna and can be found on World renowned, Garden Route! The Airport is a scheduled stop for the South African Airways on the Cape Town-East London Route.
Originally named Georgetown after King George III, it was declared a separate District on 23 April 1811, the first to be proclaimed at the Cape; after the British occupation in 1806. It then embraced the present Districts of Mossel Bay, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn, Uniondale and Knysna, with the district of Swellendam on the West and Uitenhage on the East. The Site selected for the Administrative centre of the newly proclaimed district was about 11 km from the Sea on the Southern Slopes of the Outeniqua Range below George Peak. This Mountain reaches 1 370 metres Above Sea Level.
On this Site, John Campbell of the London Missionary Society, in 1813, wrote: "a more pleasant one I have not seen in Africa, it abounds with wood, water and majestic scenery". The first Landdrost, A. G. van Kervel, planned the Town and measured out the Plots and wide streets, along which he planted rows of oak-trees. One of these has been proclaimed a Natural Monument. A length of chain is embedded in its trunk, and there is a legend that slaves were fastened to it and sold beneath the tree! Van Kervel Drostdy, has had considerable alterations through the Years, also been preserved and is part of the present Victoria Hotel. In 1877 George was visited by the English novelist Anthony Trollope, who thought it was; "the prettiest village on the face of the earth".
Whilst, the N.G. Congregation was established on 22 May 1812 and the first minister was Tobias Johannes Herold. During his ministry (1812-23) he did pioneer "work, and his name is Commemorated in the congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church and in the seaside resort Herolds Bay. In 1813 an old post-House was converted into the first Church. The second, the Cradock Church, "was built in 1817, but by 1821 it had fallen into such disrepair that the 'long Building', was erected. This functioned as a temporary Church for 22 years and -was ultimately used as Stables and Servants Quarters for the Parsonage. The foundations of the present Church were laid in 1830. The design is thought to have been by Hermann Schaitte and the builder was C. F. Visser. The design is classicist except for the Rococo side gables. The neo-classic Tower, was built as a series of stepped octagons. The Tower fell in 1905 and was rebuilt in 1906 on the original pattern. St. Mark's Cathedral is the seat of an Anglican bishop, established in 1911. H. B. Sidwell was the first South African-born bishop. The Roman Catholic Parish was established in 1841 and the Church was built in 1843. The Town has a Jewish Community with a Synagogue and Communal Hall, built in 1923. A Presbyterian Church was erected in 1933, and also Churches of other denominations.
George, one of the largest rural educational centres in the Cape Province! Had 7 schools for Whites under the control of the School Board, with 2194 pupils and 88 teachers in 1963. It has 3 preparatory Schools, 2 primary Schools, the Outeniqua High School (853 pupils in 1963), a School of Industries, the House Craft High School, the Convent of the Holy Cross and a special secondary School for mentally challenged pupils.
In 1836, George proclaimed the establishment of Municipal Councils. The first Board of Commissioners was elected in 1837, and from 1884 this body was called the Municipality of George and the Chairman-designated Mayor. A new Town Hall, erected to celebrate the Centenary in 1911, was completed in 1912. The foundation stone of the Civic Centre. This comprised of a Town Hall, a Banqueting Hall and Municipal offices, costing R450 000! This was laid out by the Administrator, J. N. Malan, on 24 Aug. 1962 and completed in Aug. 1964. All the principal Streets are tarred. Drainage and modern sewage disposal works were constructed at a cost of R 500 000. Water is obtained from the Swart River Dam (720111 litres) and other Dams in the Outeniqua Mountains. An installation for purifying water has been introduced. Since 1925 electricity has been supplied by the Municipal Power-Station.
George has a variety of Industries and several concerns engaged in the furniture Industry. The Depot for railway sleepers, formerly belonging to the South African Railways, was taken over by the Forestry Department in 1937, and gradually the industry was extended to become the present State Sawmill, which employs more than 400 people. A factory attached to the State Sawmill manufactures prefabricated Houses for White and non-White labourers in the plantations. A Factory equipped with modern apparatus for freezing and packing vegetables and deciduous fruit was built at a cost of R800 000.
George is on the Garden Route and attracts many Tourists. A new Tourist Camp and Caravan Park was completed in 1963. The Town offers facilities for all kinds of sport; it has a fine Golf Course. Local newspaper: George and Knysna Herald, which is bilingual. Was founded in 1881.
The present boundaries are the Great Brak River in the West, Swartvlei in the East, and the Kammanassie Range in the North. The National Road from Johannesburg meets the Cape Town- Durban National Road at George, and the Divisional Council maintains a network of excellent Roads. Although the Montagu Pass across the Outeniqua Range, completed in 1847 is still in use, the picturesque Outeniqua Pass, now takes most of the traffic. The Pass was completed at a cost of approximately £350 000 and inaugurated on 20 Sept. 1951 by P. O. Sauer, the Minister of Transport. The 60 km National Road between George and Knysna was also completed in 1951. A Road branching off at the Wilderness passes through the Lakes Area (Langvlei, Rondevlei and Swartvlei) amid magnificent scenery. Rondevlei and Swartvlei are Bird Sanctuaries in this Area.
There are numerous Rivers such as the Great Brak, Maalgaten, Gwayang, Swart, Kaaimans, Touw, Silver, Diep and Kammanassie. The Kammanassie Dam is partly in the Oudtshoorn district. Along the Coast are popular Resorts and excellent fishing rocks. The District was well-known for its exceptional wealth of indigenous forest, but owing to large-scale destruction, only a meagre heritage remained. In 1936 the Government prohibited the felling of the still existing trees for a period of 200 years to enable the forests to recover and in order to preserve indigenous timber such as Stinkwood and Yellow-Wood. Large Plantations of non-indigenous trees, mainly pines, were planted along the slopes of the Outeniquas Pass. The District has a large, Forestry Training College- Saasveld. Which is 8 km East of George on the old Farm- 'Pampoenkraal'. In 1931, it was decided to move the Training Centre for foresters from Tokai which is near Cape Town, to George. On 22 July 1932 Gen. J. C. G. Kemp, Minister of Agriculture, laid the foundation-stone. In 1960 a luxury Hostel, Offices and Lecture Rooms were erected. The woodwork inside the Buildings is mainly Stinkwood!
Although George has a moderate climate free from frost, hail and excessive droughts, Agriculture remained underdeveloped! Following representations by the Outeniqua Agricultural Federation the Department of Agriculture in 1952 established an experimental Farm about 278 hectares near the Town. This enabled farmers to grow vegetables, 'wheat and forage with reasonable success. Livestock, mainly dairy herds and sheep, have been considerably improved. The Hop Plantations at Blanco, Heather-lands and near Herold represent a new Agricultural activity. George being the only District in South Africa where hops is grown. Experiments with various kinds of imported hops were successfully undertaken and today sufficient amounts are produced, for the Local Market.
WHAT AN AMAZING DESCRIPTION OF OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY... IRRESPECTIVE OF WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORLD NOW! 😍
Author Unknown:
I sit here quietly thinking about what it means to me to be South African, a visitor to South Africa, or even African. So it seems easier to rather explain the effect that this unique land has on me...
The perfume of rain on African soil. The scent of woodfires drifting across the Highveld on winter evenings. There's a very distinctive aroma just as one starts coming into George / Knysna / Plett (I've never figured out which herb it is), in much the same way the smell of Wild Sage defines the area around Santawani in Botswana. The odour of thatch in a game lodge. The bouquet of dust and the various plants when one gets into the bush, sometimes a whiff of something dead. The tang of the ocean at the seaside. The smell of ‘moer’ coffee over an early morning fire, or the delicious aroma of roasting meat over flames – whether you call it a braai or shisa nyama (but definitely NOT a barbeque, a barbie, or a ghastly NZ sausage sizzle!)
There is also something about the light here. “Santorini Blue”... I don’t know if that’s an actual colour, but it seems to describe the hue of the highveld sky on a winter’s day to perfection. We live in “big sky” country – whether blue, or orange in sunset, or dark grey and rent by lightening, or velvet black and filled with stars that seem close enough to touch – the sky is ever present. As is the moon. I am always aware of the moon, from a sickle moon to the full fecund globe that is full moon. Silver light gilding thorn trees, juxtaposed against dark shadows on the savannah, is not a sight one easily forgets.
The caw of the ubiquitous, raucous Hadedah in suburbia, the burbling call of a rainbird (Burchell’s Coucal) when a thunderstorm is on its way, the beautiful Diederick’s Cuckoo announcing the arrival of spring, the screech of a Barn Owl, or the evocative call of the Fish Eagle. Jackals calling as the sun goes down, a lion’s roar quite literally making the air reverberate, or the chilling whoops of the hyenas. The cacophony of barking geckos that start up as the sun goes down over Deception Pan, or a veritable orchestra of frogs around a pan in the summer months. Cicadas shrilling on days so hot that the air shimmers, or a nightjar calling in the dead of night in the bushveld.
Days of withering heat often followed by the lightest cool breeze, just as the sun is setting. A gentle little wind, which plays with your hair like an absent-minded lover, reminding you that the cool of the night will soon be with you. Walking in the bush very early in the morning, the sun’s rays catch the dew on spiders’ webs, reminding you that life, both seen and unseen, is all around you. Trout fishing as the sun peeps over the horizon in Dullstroom, so cold that the water droplets freeze on your line…
The colours of this land are not subtle either. The blood red of the coral tree, the green metallic glint of sunbirds, the striped black and white hide of the zebra, or sapphire blue of a kingfisher. The miles and miles of yellow and orange daisies in Namaqualand in September, or pink and white swathes of cosmos along the roads in April. The lilac and turquoise of the roller, the tawny hide of a lion or the emerald green of a little dung beetle that makes its appearance in the summer months. From the golden dunes of the Namib to an unimaginable number of greens in the Knysna Forest. All vivid and arresting.
Talk to me of Morrungulo or Tsodilo Hills, the great Drakensberg, Platteland dorps and the great Karoo. The warmth of Sodwana Bay or the icy kelp forests of the Atlantic Ocean. Of wine farms and fynbos in the Cape, to meerkats and diamonds in the north. Show me our people, in so many hues, with brightly coloured traditional costumes – and even brighter smiles.
All of this creates a frisson of excitement, passion each and every day, a vivid, immediate sense of being alive that I have found nowhere else….
These are my people. This is my land.
Because I am, at the very core of my being, a child of Africa! ❤️