Port Elizabeth of Yore: Diamond Fever grips the Town

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

In the mistaken belief that diamonds were scattered on the ground waiting to be picked up, the discovery of diamonds in 1870 caused an exodus to the Diamond Fields in search of their fortune. In many cases Port Elizabeth, being the nearest port, would be the starting point for many fortune hunters travelling north, by wagon or even on foot, covering the 420 miles to De Beers’ New Rush. Soon a dose of reality would set in and many would retrace their footsteps back to Port Elizabeth.

What is little known is that it was not a one way street. Enrepreneurs in Port Elizabeth grabbed the opportunity with both hands and organised the first South African diamond auctions in the town being yet another first for the town.

Main picture: Diamond mining at Kimberley

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Lost Artefacts of Port Elizabeth: Swartkops Mineral Spa

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 9 Comments

Today taking a cure at a mineral spa is definitely out of vogue. However in the past, the belief in the curative properties of the various minerals was widely extolled. Even Erwin Rommel, at the height of WW2, spent time at a spa. Perhaps it was the relaxation that was the cure and not the minerals. Nevertheless, the supposed healing properties were invoked by all and sundry.  

Even Port Elizabethans adopted this cure, now a distant memory 

Main picture:  Swartkops Mineral Baths after the developments in 1936 

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