Salt River, Cape Town
Encyclopedia
Salt River is a mainly industrial suburb of Cape Town
located near Table Bay
to the east of the city. It is named after a river of the same name, this being a continuation of the Black River. The name Salt River is a translation of the Dutch
"Soutrivier". Salt River is served by a railway station of the same name
and has the postcode 7925.
The Salt River is the lower course of the Diep River and flows into Rietvlei and the Milnerton Lagoon. Formerly it entered the sea by two passages, one near the present mouth of the Liesbeek River
, the other having become small stagnant vleis between Paarden Eiland and Brooklyn.
Salt River is most famous for the oldest railway station in South Africa. Once a booming part of Cape Town because of its close proximity to the CBD, Salt River was the industrial heart of Cape Town in the early 1900s to the 1980s. The industries included textile and clothing factories, the famous Lion Match factory, which is now being converted into office space, Snowflake flour mills, which still exists and the oldest market in Cape Town known as Salt River Market, where traders sold fresh goods daily. The steel and locomotive industries were important milestones in the suburbs history because of the expansion of the rail network in the early 1900s. Pegged between the railway line north and Victoria Road and Main Road, Salt River is flanked by Woodstock on the Western side and Observatory on the East. Famous old buildings include St Lukes Church, The Bijou Bioscope(cinema), Bridge Mansions and Rex Truform(still operational as a clothing factory). Many buildings constructed in the older Victorian and latter art deco style still exist. The inner streets of Salt River are lined with Victorian style houses, many still maintaining its former grandeur. The streets are narrow one ways and most of them are still lined with granite sidewalks and 'bubby shops' (general stores) on street corners. The community consists mainly of Coloured people and even though it was segregated during the apartheid era, the effects were less prevalent as was felt in Athlone and Mitchells plain where the segregation removed people far from the city centre and central industrial nodes. The main religions in the community is Christianity and Islam. The religious tolerance amongst Muslims and Christians is unique to the rest of Cape Town. In the early 1980s Salt River became rife with druglords which caused degeneration of the neigbourhood. Many textiles and clothing factories closed due to imports and the development of new industrial areas around Cape Town. The suburb has been pegged for revival as part of the Cape Town urban renewal initiative
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
located near Table Bay
Table Bay
Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...
to the east of the city. It is named after a river of the same name, this being a continuation of the Black River. The name Salt River is a translation of the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
"Soutrivier". Salt River is served by a railway station of the same name
Salt River railway station
Salt River railway station is a Metrorail railway station in Salt River, Cape Town. It is the second station from the Cape Town terminus on the old main line to Bellville, and the junction where the Southern Line branches from the main line...
and has the postcode 7925.
The Salt River is the lower course of the Diep River and flows into Rietvlei and the Milnerton Lagoon. Formerly it entered the sea by two passages, one near the present mouth of the Liesbeek River
Liesbeek River
The Liesbeek River is a river in Cape Town in South Africa. It is named after a small river in Holland. The first "free burghers" of the Dutch East India Company were granted land to farm along the river in 1657, shortly after the first Dutch settlers arrived in the Cape. The river was...
, the other having become small stagnant vleis between Paarden Eiland and Brooklyn.
Salt River is most famous for the oldest railway station in South Africa. Once a booming part of Cape Town because of its close proximity to the CBD, Salt River was the industrial heart of Cape Town in the early 1900s to the 1980s. The industries included textile and clothing factories, the famous Lion Match factory, which is now being converted into office space, Snowflake flour mills, which still exists and the oldest market in Cape Town known as Salt River Market, where traders sold fresh goods daily. The steel and locomotive industries were important milestones in the suburbs history because of the expansion of the rail network in the early 1900s. Pegged between the railway line north and Victoria Road and Main Road, Salt River is flanked by Woodstock on the Western side and Observatory on the East. Famous old buildings include St Lukes Church, The Bijou Bioscope(cinema), Bridge Mansions and Rex Truform(still operational as a clothing factory). Many buildings constructed in the older Victorian and latter art deco style still exist. The inner streets of Salt River are lined with Victorian style houses, many still maintaining its former grandeur. The streets are narrow one ways and most of them are still lined with granite sidewalks and 'bubby shops' (general stores) on street corners. The community consists mainly of Coloured people and even though it was segregated during the apartheid era, the effects were less prevalent as was felt in Athlone and Mitchells plain where the segregation removed people far from the city centre and central industrial nodes. The main religions in the community is Christianity and Islam. The religious tolerance amongst Muslims and Christians is unique to the rest of Cape Town. In the early 1980s Salt River became rife with druglords which caused degeneration of the neigbourhood. Many textiles and clothing factories closed due to imports and the development of new industrial areas around Cape Town. The suburb has been pegged for revival as part of the Cape Town urban renewal initiative