Landdrost-, Post- en Telegraafkantoor – most beautiful magistrate’s court of all
Arguably one of the most beautiful heritage buildings in Potchefstroom is the Landdrost-, Post- en Telegraafkantoor (Magistrate, Post and Telegraph Office) in Greyling (OR Tambo) Street next to the Church Square. Although nowadays defaced by unsightly security...
Boskop Yacht & Aquatic Club – a place of pleasure and peace
Imagine a place where you can experience the immediate effect of all possible feel-good hormones. The Boskop Yacht & Aquatic Club epitomises this. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty, but moreover, it is a club where generations of families have...
Potchefstroom Dam – many activities, many memories
Potchefstroom Dam – many activities, many memories Today the tranquil body of water that is the Potchefstroom Dam presents many beautiful vistas. Over many years it had been a very popular recreational resort. During the lockdown its grassy picnic spots remained...
Water for Potchefstroom
Water was the reason why Potchefstroom was founded where it still is now. When Andries Hendrik Potgieter, the Voortrekker leader, visited the area 1835, he was impressed by the abundant water supply of the Mooi River, which he named as such. (See my article: What is...
Physics Building – a dream come true after many hard years
Nowadays students on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University can walk into well-appointed, state-of-the-art laboratories, doing world-changing research and take the facilities for granted. This was not the case when the campus was established on the site...
Heimat – home of NWU Arts
Heimat is the first permanent structure and brick building to be built on the campus of the Potchefstroom University College (PUC). It was officially taken into use in 1927 as a residence for 50 students. It nowadays houses NWU Arts, the very important organisational...
NWU Main Building – the icon of Potch
The one building that is synonymous with Potchefstroom is the Main Building (E5) of the North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom Campus. The distinct style of this building is one of its kind. No other university in South Africa can sport a building in similar...
Sarel Yssel – klein van statuur, groot van gees
Vir bykans ’n eeu was die historiese gewelhuis, net buite Potchefstroom op pad na Carletonville die tuiste van oom Sareltjie Yssel. Vandag het sy huis ’n nuwe baadjie. Dit is uitgeskud, opgetooi en nuut gemaak. In die tuin speel kleuters in ’n moderne speelgrond...
Goetz-Fleischack Museum – portraying the lifestyle of more than a century ago
The last house museum to open in Potchefstroom during the glorious days of heritage preservation in the 1970s and 1980s was the Goetz-Fleischack House. The town acquired three house museums, from 1977 to 1988. The first was the Totius House Museum (see link below)...
A heart for parentless children
The plight of parentless children in Potchefstroom was never more acute than after the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). When the Potchefstroom concentration camp officially closed on 6 February 1903 a large number of destitute orphans were left behind. My article on the...