From Pumpkin Patch to Parish: The Making of Durbanville
A Cape Chronicle Heritage Feature Long before it had a name that would fit on a signpost, the place we now call Durbanville was simply somewhere to stop. In the…
Category: Special Historical Feature
THE LITTLE TRIANGLE THAT PUT THE CAPE ON THE POSTAL MAP
How a curious three-cornered stamp issued in Cape Town in 1853 became one of the world’s most famous pieces of postal history CAPE TOWN, 1853 — There was nothing particularly…
Cape Heritage Community News & Events Culture & Traditions Politics & Provincial Government Special Historical Feature Tourism
If Dagbreek Cottage Falls, Another Piece of the Cape Falls With It
The City of Cape Town never tires of marketing itself as a world-class city. It boasts about tourism, celebrates its historic precincts, and proudly sells visitors a destination rich in…
The Springs That Built a Town: The Story of Aliwal North’s Hot Pool
By Staff Reporter | Eastern Cape Bureau ALIWAL NORTH — Long before this quiet town on the banks of the Orange River carried the name of a battlefield in Punjab,…
The Horseless Carriage That Changed a Nation: South Africa’s First Motor Car
A look back at the 1896 Benz Velo, the vehicle that put the country on wheels PRETORIA/PORT ELIZABETH — Long before the Cape’s highways carried a single bakkie or sedan,…
The Cannon Beneath the Swimming Pool: Sea Point’s Hidden Defence Secret Revealed
Cape Chronicle Heritage Feature SEA POINT — Beneath the quiet gardens of a former bed-and-breakfast in Battery Estate, Sea Point, lay a secret that had remained hidden for nearly…
From Counter to Skyscraper: The Making of Cape Town’s Furniture Trade, 1860–1929
In 1859, a merchant house called Povall & Stuttaford began trading in Cape Town. By 1868 the business had been reconstituted as Thorne, Stuttaford & Co., in partnership with William…
Remembering Wolraad Woltemade—and the Cape’s winter storms that have never ceased
The rain had barely stopped falling across the Western Cape. Through the past week the clouds had rolled low and dark over the mountains. The roads shone under standing water.…
Hardekraaltjie Caravan Park-The Last Bastion of a Forgotten Heritage
Where the Oxen Rested: Why the Cape’s forgotten outspans deserve protection By the Heritage Correspondent, Cape Chronicle Before the whistle of the railway echoed across the Cape Flats, before motorcars…
The Voice of Native Opinion – John Tengo Jabavu and the Birth of Black Journalism in the Cape
In an era when the Cape Colony’s press was dominated by white voices and missionary gatekeepers, one man dared to create a platform where Africans could speak for themselves. John…
Plegtige inwyding van die Afrikaanse Taalmonument op Paarlberg
‘n Gedenkteken vir Afrikaans Paarl, 10 Oktober 1975. – Onder helder lentelug en met die majestueuse Drakensteinberge as agtergrond, is die Afrikaanse Taalmonument vandag op Paarlberg met groot plegtigheid ingewy.…
“It’s My Water!” — Tempers Boil Over at Twisfontein
Twisfontein, Saturday, 16 August 1873 — Tempers erupted once again this morning as neighbouring farmers W. Baard of Heuningklip and C. Loubser of Witteklip confronted one another over the ownership…
CAPE CLAIMS THE PENGUIN ISLANDS
Governor Grey extends the Queen’s dominion over a chain of Atlantic islands CAPE TOWN — 12 AUGUST 1861 A significant proclamation has been issued today from Cape Town which extends…