HISTORY'S INFLUENCE ON SOUTHERN AFRICA Port Elizabeth

Cornerstone Design-Build
Apr 10, 2017
5 min read

Port Elizabeth is in the region known as Algoa bay, which had been formally settled since 1776 with the establishment of a farming community, most of the farmers being Dutch. With power falling to the British by 1799, a military outpost, Fort Frederick, was then established. It was strategically placed over the harbour as a viewpoint. The soldiers living at the Fort became dependent on local farmers for produce and hence, a commercial market place was established. In 1819 there were already 35 residents apart from the 380 odd military men (Frescura etal. 2002).

Port Elizabeth in context.

Source: www.portelizabeth.com

The advantages of the location of the settlement were many. Firstly, it was seen as an entry point to the interior, particularly to the Kimberley diamond fields. Secondly, the presence of the military in the area secured prospective immigrants and missionaries from harm.

Port Elizabeth’s first inhabitants were the Khoisan, British, Dutch, German and Xhosa people. It was the landing place of the 1829 Settlers, and is home to some of the greatest architectural works of South Africa.

Fort Frederick.

Source: www.portelizabeth.com

The first church was built in 1803 by Dr Johannes Theodosuis van der Kemp. Van der Kemp was sent by the London Missionary Society to the area in 1801. He built a permanent settlement to fulfill his missionary work. The history of the settlement is both interesting and historically valuable to visitors and the community alike.

By April of 1820, following the arrival of the 1820 English settlers, there were 3 thatched homes, and 1-2 wooden houses brought in from England, as described by T. Pringle. A few weeks later, there was a settler’s town (tents for the time being) and haphazard growth in every direction at first (Lewcock 1963). By June of that year it was officially named Port Elizabeth after Elizabeth Frances, the recently deceased wife of Sir Rufane Donkin. (Frescura etal. 2002).

Indigenous houses had been of stone and thatch and some new building followed this pattern. The Commandant’s house a.k.a. Government House was a prefabricated wooden house, demountable into small sections and of a considerable size. It was a neat thatched cottage fronted by an ‘old garden’. To the left of it was Markham House, a new boarding House upon a large scale (later the Hope Hotel) – built by Capt. Moresby – the first building in the newly named P.E. – double storey structure facing the sea between the Commandant’s house and the Blockhouse – English character with a string course separating the 2 horizontal ranges of windows, a straight cornice and a skyline broken by a series of chimney stacks and Cape gable over the entrance. (Lewcock 1963).

Port Elizabeth Donkin district.

Source: www.portelizabeth.co.za

The post office was established in Port Elizabeth in 1822 with a William Dunnas its first postmaster. The first post office was a small shed of wood and iron bythe landing place. By 1838, there were about 100 houses. The English church St. Mary’s was a simple structure in the Main Street. (Frescura etal. 2002).

Buildings were mostly in stone (plastered and whitewashed), brick, wattle and daub. Bricks were hard-burnt kiln bricks of English type. Roofs were built up of bricks and lime mortar, finished with large red flat tiles (Robben Island slate tiles). (Lewcock 1963).

Port Elizabeth 1922 - panorama from sand dunes above landing place (taken from S.E. Hudson sketchbook).

With Government House in the centre and Markham House to the left and the Donkin at the top right.

Source: Lewcock 1963

Port Elizabeth 1922 - panorama from sand dunes above landing place (taken from S.E. Hudson sketchbook).

Source: Lewcock 1963

The beautiful, colonial City Hall is located on Market Square, and was built between 1858 and 1862. The clock tower was added in 1883.

Port Elizabeth developed around two centres - :

1. a residential area including military buildings near the Donkin Memorial Pyramid at the top of the hill (quarters and stores for Fort Frederick)

2. the town proper around Commandant’s house and old Blockhouse near the beach extending along the foot of the hill parallel to the sea

Initially there was no satisfactory town planning. It was split in two by marine cliffs. The town centre constricted into a long narrow space along the edge of the sea. There was the preservation of open space at the head of the landing stage as a public square – into this converged 3 roads (one from the interior, the second to the south east and the third from the opposite direction which brought traffic in along the north coast from Uitenhage and Grahamstown (Lewcock 1963). The landing stage was thought to be inconvenient and very

open to the sea winds. Early visitors thought the town to be dirty and haphazard

with roads of poor condition (Frescura 2002).

The early village was built arbitrarily around the landing place. The main street developed along coastal road to the north and was a form of strip or ribbon development, parallel to the sea. Between the main street and the sea there was room for one more narrow street. A tradesmen’s quarter grew up on opposite side further along with narrow lanes which stepped up the hillside following contours (Lewcock 1963).

Port Elizabeth 1929.

Source: Lewcock 1963

The Donkin Reserve was a valuable asset. It was a large open green overlooking the main street, on one side of which is the Donkin Memorial Pyramid. The Donkin is functionally and visually the focus of the town more so than even the market square below. It became the hub of commercial activity.

The Donkin memorial.

Source: www.portelizabeth.co.za

The town grew from 3500 people in 1846 to 11 633 residents in 1865 and 46 832 by 1904. (Frescura eral. 2002). By 1860, Port Elizabeth had grown into the second largest city in the Cape Colony. It included, by 1882, a Provincial Hospital, the Grey Educational Institute, Synagogue, Convent and many churches. The post office outgrew its humble beginnings and inhabited rooms in several structures around the market square including the old Customs Offices in 1866. A new Post Office building was constructed by 1900 on the square (Frescura etal 2002).

Post Office on Market Square 1900

Souce: Frescura etal. 2002

PE Town Hall

Source: Frescura etal. 2002

To the north-west were a cluster of huts known as the Fingoe hamlet. Between the main street and the sea are huts of the Malay quarter – the seaward side of old settler village had already become the coloured quarter.

The introduction of a railway line posed a difficult problem. The solution is until today still a source of much congestion. It cut off the main road from the sea, disrupting the relationship between the town and the sea.

In conclusion, Port Elizabeth began boldly as a military outpost and then grew into a maritime and commercial hub. An initial haphazard layout of the town was consolidated into a functional town by the mid 19th century. This was destroyed by the introduction of the rail in the early 20th century. Nevertheless, it is a typical strip development with a market place and workers' homes close to the waterfront, while the more affluent clusters further up close to the Donkin.