Port Elizabeth of Yore: Naming of the Second Quay

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

As jetties were constructed, they acquired a name: North, South and Dom Pedro. How the name was determined is unknown. It is unlikely that a Jetty Naming Competition was instituted with prizes for the most popular name. Rather it was more likely that it was common parlance that determined it. In the case of the Dom Pedro, it was the name of the slaving shipwrecked at that spot which “selected” the name.

But how were the quay names determined? With the first quay having been named Charl Malan, what would quay number 2 be called?

Main picture: Item N46246 – Port Elizabeth, 1939. No 2 quay at Port Elizabeth harbour. [Transnet Heritage Library]

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Quarries for Development

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Large quantities of rock and stone are only required for extensive civil engineering projects. The first project to require such quantities was the construction of the abortive breakwater in the 1860s. Even greater quantities were required for the new breakwater and quays in the 1920s and 1930s.

With the second and third wave of buildings on the southern side of Main Street, copious quantities of rock were generated. As this construction did not coincide with harbour construction and an alternative use could not be found for this material, it was merely dumped into the Baakens Lagoon, converting the lagoon into a narrow canalised stream.

Main picture: Thomas Bowler’s painting the railway line ferrying stone from the quarry in St. Mary’s cemetery to the breakwater being constructed south of the Baakens River. Interestingly, the painting shows the rail link running through the graveyard.

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Second attempt at Construction of the Breakwater

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Despite a breakwater being a critical component of  a harbour, Port Elizabeth was deprived of one until the 1920s. That consigned the unloading of the ships to be performed in the roadstead, an archaic practice, long since abandoned by other ports.

The initial attempt at building a breakwater in 1856 was disastrous as it became unusable due to silting after the flood in 1867. It would be fifty years before another attempt would be made to construct the breakwater.

Main picture: Breakwater with the Charl Malan Quay still under construction

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