The Randjieslaagte Beacon - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

Two Commissioners, Johan Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert were sent from Pretoria to inspect the discovery of gold in this area and to assess its profitability. They reported back that it was of enormous long-term economic value. The farms along the line of reef were declared to be public diggings and F.C Eloff, private secretary to the State President, Paul Kruger, was sent to find a central site suitable for a town. He found a vacant piece of ground, a Government owned farm named Randjieslaagte.

The Words on the Plaque read:
When Johannesburg was proclaimed in 1886 on the
triangular site Ranjeslaagte, the area of the town was 2.5
square km. Ranjeslaagte was a piece of 'uitvolgrond' - land
left over from the farms surveyed around it. This beacon marks
the apex of the triangle with its base running along
Commisioner Street, from End Street in the East to Diagonal
Street in the West. These 2.5km remained the
municiple area of Johannesburg until 1901. The original
surveyor's beacon was a white pole fixed in a cairn of
rock. It was declared a national monument
in 1965 and the cairn smoothed
with cement.

Blue Plaque managing agency: Johannesburg City Heritage Individual Recognized: The Randjieslaagte Beacon Physical Address: Not listed Web Address: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/09/2011 ThomasFamilyZA visited it 06/04/2011 Louise_Gerhard visited it

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