Pilgrims Rest - Part 2

"Alanglade", which used to be the residence of the director of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estate Ltd, furnished with pieces of the 1920s.
The "Drezden Shop" is the town's historic general store. Here one could buy anything, groceries, whisky, tools, household articles and much more.

A lot of old merchandise is exhibited in the store.

The old newspaper printing office and the Royal Hotel are also open to visitors. And at Pilgrim's Creek visitors can still today try their luck at gold washing.

The first site in the history of South African archaeology where gold objects were excavated, was Mapungubwe in Limpopo province, dating to 1,000 - 1,300 AD.

Together with Great Zimbabwe and Thulamela, Mapungubwe formed part of a complex trading culture through which the gold of Africa reached Arabia, India and Phoenicia.

A number of insignificant gold deposits were discovered in the northern parts of South Africa between 1840 and 1870.

But the first gold rush in South Africa took place in 1873 when payable gold was discovered on the farm Geelhoutboom near the town of Sabie (5km from Pilgrim's Rest - as the crow flies).

President Burgers, who visited the site, officially named the area the New Caledonian Gold Fields, but he jokingly referred to it as "MacMac" and the name stuck. Everyone referred to it as the MacMac Diggings.

The ore was transported to the Reduction Works (build in 1897).

As the demand grew for crushing ever-increasing volumes of gold ore, the mine engineers soon realised that what they needed was electricity.

This was generated in small hydro-electric plants until the Belvedere hydro-electric power plant in the Blyde River Canyon was completed in 1911. This 2,000 Kw power station was, at its time, the largest hydro-electric power station in the Southern hemisphere and Pilgrim's Rest was the second town in South Africa (after Kimberly) to be electrified.