Prior to the Great Trek of the 1830's, the area on which Kempton
Park now stands was known only to hunters and nomad cattle farmers.
The first seeds of the Kempton Park story were planted when, on 25
October 1859, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Z.A.R.) issued a
title deed for part of the farm Zuurfontein on which Kempton Park
would develop many years later
The discovery of gold in 1886 some 50 kilometers west of
Zuurfontein stimulated, amongst others, the building of a railway
line, which would serve as a link between the Transvaal gold fields
and the east coast. On 25 June 1890, the Z.A.R. government granted
a concession for the building of a railway line from Pretoria,
bypassing Johannesburg on the east and directed to the Vaal River
by the shortest route. The main line cut directly through the farm
Zuurfontein, thus forging another link in the destiny of the yet
unborn township of Kempton Park.
One of the stations established was at Zuurfontein. Zuurfontein
station soon became a gathering place for resident farmers in the
area where they collected their supplies.
To find the cache one need to do some research about the town of
Kempton Park on their website.
The cache can be found at:
S 26 0A.BCD E 28 1F.GHI
The official birth date of Kempton Park is 2Fth August
190D
On 1A August 190C Carl Friedrich Wolff sold his
11H morgen portion of the farm Zuurfontein to his own newly
formed private company called Kempton Park Estates Limited.
The Zuurfontein (Christelik Nasionale Onderwys) school catered
for some 30 children until 1B06 when the school closed after
the death of Willem Kamp.
Marais .......Jacoba Aletta Maria Dorothea Beukes and not long
afterwards, on 2G December 1869, inherited Beukes' farm
Rietfontein as well.
School, however, closed at 13h30 which obliged the school
principal to make a special arrangement with the stationmaster to
permit school children to travel in the 14hI0 goods
train
The final destination gives one a slight feel of what it was
like 100 years ago but expansion is closing in fast.
A very nice view of Kempton Park from a completely different
angle