Fort Beaufort
| Fort Beaufort | |||
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| Coordinates | 32 ° 47 ′ S , 26 ° 38 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Eastern Cape | |||
| District | Amathole | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-EC | ||
| local community | Raymond Mhlaba | ||
| Residents | 25,668 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1816 | ||
 Martello Tower in Fort Beaufort
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Fort Beaufort is a small town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa . It is located in the Amathole District ( Raymond Mhlaba Parish ). In 2011 the city had 25,668 inhabitants.
history
The city owes its origins to the establishment of a mission station in 1816 in an area that at that time was marked by increasing settlement by white immigrants who increasingly came into conflict with the local population of the Xhosa and San people .
Beaufort is the name of a French castle that has a historical connection with the British noble Sommerset family. The name was later carried over to the city and is based on Lord Charles Somerset, the Duke of Beaufort , after whom the fort built here in 1823 was named. Significant sights are the remains of the old fort with a fortification tower , the Martello Tower . This tower was built in 1837. The fort served as a military post in a chain of fortifications that arose during the border wars between Xhosa tribes and British troops in the 19th century.
location
Fort Beaufort is located on a plain that merges in a northerly direction over a hilly country into the mountainous region of the winter mountains. The Kat River drains this mountain region and passes the old settlement core at a short distance to the west.
The small town is located on the regional roads R63 and R67, which cross in the urban area. With the railway to Fort Beaufort reached from King William's Town in the east or from Cradock and Somerset East in the West. A branch line branches off from this line to Seymour in the north .
Infrastructure, economy and tourism
There is a hospital for the region in Fort Beaufort and the administration of the school district of the same name is also located there. The school district encompasses the area around the city and extends east to Alice and into the valley of the Tyhume River . This includes a traditional main settlement area of the Xhosa .
The area around Fort Beaufort, especially to the north, is characterized by plantation economy. The abundance of water in the Kat River valley makes this agricultural use possible. To the west and south of the city there are semi-arid areas of the eastern Karoo region.
The military museum and a historical museum are among the touristic points of interest and facilities oriented towards the culture of this region. The latter was founded in 1938 by decision of the National Monument's Commission , opened in 1940 and shows evidence of European settlement as well as handicraft exhibits from the Xhosa population. The Victoria Bridge , built by Andrew Geddes Bain from 1840 to 1844, is one of the oldest bridge structures in South Africa.
people
- John Dugard (* 1936), South African lawyer
literature
- 3226 King William's Town, 1: 250,000, topo-cadastral, Mowbray (Chief Director of Surveys and Mapping Privat Bag Mowbray) 1985
- Cristine Philipp: South Africa . Reise Know-How Verlag, Markgröningen 2006, ISBN 3-89662-348-6
- Mike Raath, Dorothy Pitman, Jenny Bennie: Museums of the Eastern Cape . Port Elizabeth (SAMA Eastern Cape) 1996 ISBN 0-620-19916-4
Web links
- Images of Martello Tower ( Memento from April 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Short description of the city (English)
- School district map (PDF; 1.7 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 18, 2013
- ^ Martello Tower, Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape. on www.people.ru.ac.za ( Memento from April 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)