Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Town in its Fifties (Circa 1860/70)

Unlike humans, turning fifty did not imply that Port Elizabeth was approaching middle age. Instead, it was still an age of exuberant growth and limitless possibilities, as it was now the largest port in South Africa, volume-wise. It would take another century for old age, tepid growth and decline to set in. 

This description of Port Elizabeth in its teenager years is fascinating and is taken from a thin unnamed booklet entitled “between 1860 and 1870.” 

Main picture: The North Jetty

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