Laingsburg (South Africa)
| Laingsburg | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 33 ° 12 ′ S , 20 ° 51 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| District | Central Karoo | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| local community | Laingsburg | ||
| Residents | 5667 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1879 | ||
 Laingsburg from the N1 seen
|
|||
Laingsburg is a town in the Laingsburg municipality , Central Karoo District , Western Cape Province in South Africa . It is located in the Karoo , on the N1 road , halfway between Cape Town and Beaufort West . The population is 5,667 (as of 2011). Neighboring cities are Matjiesfontein (27 kilometers away), Touwsrivier (82 kilometers), Beaufort West (198 kilometers) and Ladismith (85 kilometers).
history
In 1862 Stephanus Greeff acquired the Zoute Vlakte farm (German: "Salzige Ebene"). Today the city is supplied with water from here. The farm provided shade and fresh drinking water. It soon developed into a popular resting place. Greeff applied in 1879 to be able to use part of this farm for the establishment of a village. This was approved by John Laing, the responsible representative of the British Crown.
For a short time during the construction, the village had the same name as the farm. The name was later changed to Buffels River and, when the place was connected to a railway line, the name was changed to Nassau to avoid confusion with the place of the same name in the Eastern Cape near East London . Then the name was changed in honor of John Laing. For a while the city was called Laings Town, but since “town ” was pronounced like the Afrikaans word for “toe” in the local slang , there were more and more jokes about the city and its inhabitants. The name was quickly changed to today's Laingsburg.
Around 100 years after it was founded, Laingsburg was devastated on January 25, 1981 by a flood from the Buffels River . Within a few hours the city was under water and the residents had to fight for their lives. Only 21 houses were undamaged and 104 residents lost their lives.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 22, 2013
- ↑ History ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
