Jacobsdal
Encyclopedia
Jacobsdal is a small farming town at 29°7′43.32"S 24°46′22.8"E in the Free State
province of South Africa
with various crops under irrigation, such as grape
s, potato
es, lucerne
and groundnuts. The town was layout in 1859 by Christoffel Jacobs on his farm Kalkfontein, and today houses 6,500 inhabitants.
It is a small attractive town on the Riet River, and in the 19th century it was near the boundary between the Orange Free State
and the Cape Colony
. Its district boundaries date back to 1834 when the Cape Colony negotiated with the Griqua Captain, Andries Waterboer
. The town was established in 1859 on the farm Kalkfontein, 'lime spring'. The town was named after the farm's owner, Christoffel Johannes Jacobs. It obtained municipal status in 1860. At that time, the Jacobsdal district was one of the largest districts in the Orange Free State republic.
In 1867 when diamonds were discovered in South Africa, the most important alluvial diamond diggings were in the Jacobsdal district. After the discovery, the Cape Colony claimed the largest part of the Jacobsdal district. However, in 1871 the Orange Free State republic's government received ₤90 000 from the British Crown in compensation for the land taken.
Jacobsdal saw lots of military action during the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 because it was close to the two strategic towns of Kimberley
and Mafeking. The wounded from the battles of Belmont/Graspan, Modder River
, Magersfontein
and Paardeberg were nursed in the town.
In November 1899 Boers from Jacobsdal erected a cairn of a heap of stones (klipstapel), each burgher scratching his name on a stone, before departing for the battle of Roodelaagte.
20 km north west of Jacobsdal lies the Magersfontein
battlefield where in December 1899 General Piet Cronje
blocked Lord Methuen's advance on Kimberley.
However, two months later, General Cronje was outflanked by his enemy General French's dash to relieve the siege of Kimberley
, and retreated to Jacobsdal from Kimberley. [Barker, p92] On 15 February 1900 as the British approached the town he departed from Jacobsdal with 5000 men, women and children. [www.routes.co.za] Later that day the British captured the town, making Jacobsdal the first Orange Free State town to be occupied. Two days Cronje's men came under fire at Paardeberg Drift from French who was in pursuit of him and the battle of Paardeberg commenced. Cronje surrendered on 27 February after enduring 9 days of shelling by 40,000 British troops. [www.places.co.za] 4,000 Boers surrendered and were taken off into exile at British prisoner of war camps around the world.
During the British occupation, the occupiers were surprised by an attack by the Boers that resulted in the death of 23 British soldiers. The British retaliated by burning down twenty houses and interning all the town’s women and children in a concentration camp in Kimberley. The men were sent to POW camps inside and outside South Africa. [
Later in 1900 the British erected a blockhouse near the town on the road to Paardeberg. Its rectangular shape is one of only 12 blockhouses with that shape in South Africa.
Besides the cairn, there are other memorials to the war in Jacobsdal. A memorial to the dead from the Battle of Roodelaagte stands in front of the NG church. In 1968 a memorial was erected in the Jacobsdal cemetery which commemorates British and colonial men who were buried in the cemetery. []
The town has long had a well known Landbouskool, one of only three agricultural high schools in the province. []
During the Second World War, Italian prisoners of war were held near Jacobsdal and Koffiefontein
. Their labour was used to construct the Riet River Irrigation Scheme which extended the existing water scheme. After the war, white war veterans were rewarded with the receipt of an irrigation plot of 24 morgen each. []
The irrigation scheme is an extensive river irrigation settlement using water canals and the main crops are lucerne
, potatoes, wheat
, cotton
, groundnuts, olives, maize
and, since 1972, both table and wine grapes. [Erasmus, Wikipedia] The town claims to have the first wine cellar
ever built outside the Cape Province. Wines of a good quality are produced by two wine cellars, Landzicht and Wilreza [www.places.co.za] In terms of livestock the focus is on sheep but there are also recently established large dairy
establishments. []
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
province of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with various crops under irrigation, such as grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s, potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, lucerne
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
and groundnuts. The town was layout in 1859 by Christoffel Jacobs on his farm Kalkfontein, and today houses 6,500 inhabitants.
It is a small attractive town on the Riet River, and in the 19th century it was near the boundary between the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
and the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
. Its district boundaries date back to 1834 when the Cape Colony negotiated with the Griqua Captain, Andries Waterboer
Andries Waterboer
Andries Waterboer was a leader of the Griqua people. He was elected as their Kaptijn at Griquatown in 1820....
. The town was established in 1859 on the farm Kalkfontein, 'lime spring'. The town was named after the farm's owner, Christoffel Johannes Jacobs. It obtained municipal status in 1860. At that time, the Jacobsdal district was one of the largest districts in the Orange Free State republic.
In 1867 when diamonds were discovered in South Africa, the most important alluvial diamond diggings were in the Jacobsdal district. After the discovery, the Cape Colony claimed the largest part of the Jacobsdal district. However, in 1871 the Orange Free State republic's government received ₤90 000 from the British Crown in compensation for the land taken.
Jacobsdal saw lots of military action during the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 because it was close to the two strategic towns of Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
and Mafeking. The wounded from the battles of Belmont/Graspan, Modder River
Modder River
The Modder River is a river in South Africa that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces.Modder River may also refer to:* Modder River, Northern Cape - A small town in the Northern Cape....
, Magersfontein
Magersfontein
The MagersfonteinMisspelt "Maaghersfontein" in some British texts battlefield is a site of the Battle of Magersfontein , part of the Second Boer War in South Africa. The battlefield is located at south of Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, South Africa and can be reached either via the airport...
and Paardeberg were nursed in the town.
In November 1899 Boers from Jacobsdal erected a cairn of a heap of stones (klipstapel), each burgher scratching his name on a stone, before departing for the battle of Roodelaagte.
20 km north west of Jacobsdal lies the Magersfontein
Magersfontein
The MagersfonteinMisspelt "Maaghersfontein" in some British texts battlefield is a site of the Battle of Magersfontein , part of the Second Boer War in South Africa. The battlefield is located at south of Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, South Africa and can be reached either via the airport...
battlefield where in December 1899 General Piet Cronje
Piet Cronje
Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé, commonly known as Piet Cronjé was a general of the South African Republic's military forces during the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880-1881 and 1899-1902....
blocked Lord Methuen's advance on Kimberley.
However, two months later, General Cronje was outflanked by his enemy General French's dash to relieve the siege of Kimberley
Siege of Kimberley
The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...
, and retreated to Jacobsdal from Kimberley. [Barker, p92] On 15 February 1900 as the British approached the town he departed from Jacobsdal with 5000 men, women and children. [www.routes.co.za] Later that day the British captured the town, making Jacobsdal the first Orange Free State town to be occupied. Two days Cronje's men came under fire at Paardeberg Drift from French who was in pursuit of him and the battle of Paardeberg commenced. Cronje surrendered on 27 February after enduring 9 days of shelling by 40,000 British troops. [www.places.co.za] 4,000 Boers surrendered and were taken off into exile at British prisoner of war camps around the world.
During the British occupation, the occupiers were surprised by an attack by the Boers that resulted in the death of 23 British soldiers. The British retaliated by burning down twenty houses and interning all the town’s women and children in a concentration camp in Kimberley. The men were sent to POW camps inside and outside South Africa. [
Later in 1900 the British erected a blockhouse near the town on the road to Paardeberg. Its rectangular shape is one of only 12 blockhouses with that shape in South Africa.
Besides the cairn, there are other memorials to the war in Jacobsdal. A memorial to the dead from the Battle of Roodelaagte stands in front of the NG church. In 1968 a memorial was erected in the Jacobsdal cemetery which commemorates British and colonial men who were buried in the cemetery. []
The town has long had a well known Landbouskool, one of only three agricultural high schools in the province. []
During the Second World War, Italian prisoners of war were held near Jacobsdal and Koffiefontein
Koffiefontein
Koffiefontein is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. Farming in the district focuses on cattle and sheep farming with lucerne, potatoes and ground nuts being the main crops sown. There are also a cheese factory and vineyards in the town...
. Their labour was used to construct the Riet River Irrigation Scheme which extended the existing water scheme. After the war, white war veterans were rewarded with the receipt of an irrigation plot of 24 morgen each. []
The irrigation scheme is an extensive river irrigation settlement using water canals and the main crops are lucerne
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
, potatoes, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, groundnuts, olives, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and, since 1972, both table and wine grapes. [Erasmus, Wikipedia] The town claims to have the first wine cellar
Wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...
ever built outside the Cape Province. Wines of a good quality are produced by two wine cellars, Landzicht and Wilreza [www.places.co.za] In terms of livestock the focus is on sheep but there are also recently established large dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
establishments. []