Middelburg is a large farming and industrial town in the 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...

n province of Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...

.

Middelburg was established as Nasareth, (root from dry land), in 1864

1864 in South Africa

-Events:* The Republic of New Scotland is set up in what is now the Amsterdam region in Mpumalanga* Bloemhof is founded on the banks of the Vaal River when diamonds are discovered in the area...

 by the Voortrekkers

Voortrekkers

The Voortrekkers were emigrants during the 1830s and 1840s who left the Cape Colony moving into the interior of what is now South Africa...

 on the banks of the Klein Olifants River. The name was changed in 1872

1872 in South Africa

-Events:* The railway system in the Cape Colony is taken over by the local government* December - Responsible government is granted to the Cape Colony-Deaths:* 1 September - Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Cape Town dies at the age of 62...

 to Middelburg to mark its situation midway between the Transvaal

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

 capital Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

 and the gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 mining town of Lydenburg

Lydenburg

Lydenburg is a town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The town is slated to be renamed Mashishing, according to an announcement made on June 30, 2006 by the South African Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan. Lydenburg is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Olifants River at...

. A Dutch Reformed Church

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

 was built in 1890

1890 in South Africa

-March:* 17 March - The first railway line in the Transvaal is opened for service between Boksburg and Braamfontein in Johannesburg-June:* 6 June - Magadu Bhambada becomes chief of the AmaZondi people at the age of 25 after the death of his father and uncle...

 and became a focal point in the area.