Settlers Memorial in Dulstroom, South Africa
S 25° 25.108 E 030° 06.417
36J E 208981 N 7185558
This memorial to the original settlers of the village of Dulstroom is located in the small fenced park in the center of town.
Waymark Code: WMJAGW
Location: Mpumalanga, South Africa
Date Posted: 10/19/2013
Views: 5
THE MEMORIAL:
There is a small fenced area in the middle of Dullstroom that holds a memorial called the Garden of Remembrance,establised in memory of the terrible times the villagers faced during the 2nd Boer War, plus this stone memorial to the original settlers, plus a pretty Rose Cottage surrounded by roses and bushes (one of the few buildings that was not destroyed in the Boer war).
The Memorial is accessed via a stone entryway with plaques, and an open archway to pass to the garden behind. Inside the garden you first encounter the memorial stone that honors the early settlers, the etching which is hard to read as it has aged and faded. Beyond this is a low stone wall with plaques honoring those affected adversely by the Boer Wars.
This memorial honors the first directors of the new village:
The first directors of this Company were:
Wolterus Dull
Jonkheer H.M. Teding van Berkhout
Jonkheer J.C.J. Beelearts van Blokland
Dr. J.W. Gunning
H.J.F. de Waal
H.T. Buhrman
J.H. Janson jnr.
I was fortunate to locate a photo of the Memorial when it was in better shape, approximately in 1938, at this website:
dullstroomweather.co.za/history.html
(
visit link)
ABOUT DULLSTROOM:
Dullstroom is a small town in Mpumalanga province of South Africa, halfway between Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. Today it is a tourist town that is considered a premier fly-fishing destination. After the First Boer War (1880-1881), South Africa’s president Paul Kruger began encouraging emigration. At this time, groups in Holland began to organize financial backing to support the Afrikaans who had endured the First Boer war, as well as send a group of settlers to the area. By 1883, Wolterus Dull of Holland had been able to arrange sufficient funding to purchase two farms in the Dullstroom area; Groot Suikerboschkop & Elandslaagte. Settlers from Holland arrived in 1884-1887 and by 1890 the settlers had established a small village.
In 1892 Paul Kruger named the village named Dull's-stroom, which was later shortened to Dullstroom, in honour of Wolterus Dull and the nearyby Crocodile River ("stroom" is an Afrikaans word meaning "stream"). Records reflect that by 1893 DullStroom boasted 48 residents, eight homes, three stables, 10 cattle corrals and trading store called the " Boeren Handelsvereniging ".
This memorial was placed in honor of those first settlers and the new village.