PRETORIA,Dutch Republic,Portuguese Possessions,South Africa

HISTORICAL MAP CHART

PRETORIA, the administrative capital of the Union of South Africa and of the province of the Transvaal, 46 m. by rail N. by E. of Johannesburg. Pretoria is situated on the banken veld or northern slopes of the high veld, on both banks of the Aapies tributary of the Limpopo, and is 4470 ft. above the sea, being 1300 ft. lower than Johannesburg. Built in a hollow surrounded by hills, the aspect of the town with the river flowing through it and its broad streets lined with willows is picturesque. In summer the heat and moisture are excessive, and the Aapies (which is spanned by four bridges) is liable to floods. The town is regularly laid out in rectangular blocks of uniform width. The older part lies on the west side of the Aapies River and between it and a smaller stream known as the Spruit. In the centre of this part of Pretoria is Church Square, so named from the Dutch Reformed Church which stood in it. Government buildings on the south side of the square contain the chambers of the Provincial Council and other public offices. They were erected in 1892 and are a handsome block in Renaissance style, three-storied, with a central tower surmounted by a statue of Liberty. On the north side of the square are the law courts, on the west side the Post Office. The chief banking offices are also in the square. The water supply of Pretoria is drawn from the source of the Aapies River, where rise magnificent springs. The Fountains, as they are called, are 3 m. west of Pretoria. Some 3 m. north of the town is the Wonderboom, an enormous wild fig-tree, the only one of its kind in the district. At West Fort, 7 m. from the town, is a leper asylum; at Waterval, 15 m. north, the British prisoners captured by the Boers up to the fall of Pretoria were confined. Thirty miles east by north of Pretoria is the Premier Diamond mine. Bronkhorst Spruit, where in December 1880 a detachment of British soldiers was ambushed by the Boers, lies about 30 m. east by south of the town. Pretoria was founded in 1855, the ground on which it stands being purchased by the Boer government from Marthinus Pretorius. It was made the centre of a new district created at the same time, both town and district being named in honor of Andries Pretorius. By treaty between the South African Republic (then comprising the districts of Potchefstroom, Rustenburg, Pretoria and Zoutpansberg) and the republic of Lydenburg, concluded at Pretoria in 1860, the two republics were united and Pretoria chosen as the capital of the whole state, and in September of that year the Volksraad held its first meeting in the new capital. Until 1864, however, when the civil war in the Transvaal ended, Potchefstroom remained the virtual capital of the country. From that year the seat of government has always been at Pretoria. There in 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone proclaimed the annexation of the Transvaal to Great Britain. In December 1880 it was invested by the Boers, but held out until the conclusion of peace. In 1881 the convention restoring self-government to the Transvaal was signed at Pretoria. From that time until 1900 the dominating figure in the town was that of the president Paul Kruger. As revenue flowed in from the gold-mines on the Rand many line buildings were erected in the capital, which was placed in railway communication with Cape Town. in 1893 and with Lourenco Marques and Durban in 1895.

1890s Wood Engraving Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.