Camdeboo and the Valley of Desolation
The town lies against Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation.
Heritage sites
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Graaff-Reinet History
People, places and heritage stories from Graaff-Reinet.
Stories & places
14 listedThe Drostdy
The Drostdy was the residence and office of the landdrost, the district magistrate.
Heritage sites
Open in Google MapsFounded in 1786
In 1786 the Cape government established a district and town in the horseshoe bend of the Sundays River.
Stories
Graaff-Reinet and the Great Trek
The Graaff-Reinet district was one of the major departure areas of the Great Trek.
Stories
Dutch Reformed Grootkerk
The congregation was established in 1792. The present church was begun in 1886.
Churches & institutions
Open in Google MapsMilitary history of the town
Graaff-Reinet's military record stretches from frontier conflicts to the world wars.
Heritage sites
Open in Google MapsThe Old Library
Graaff-Reinet residents established a public library in 1847.
Heritage sites
Open in Google MapsThe Old Residency
An early nineteenth-century Cape Dutch house later served as the magistrate's residence.
Heritage sites
Open in Google MapsRailway from Port Elizabeth
The railway from Port Elizabeth reached Graaff-Reinet in August 1879.
Stories
Reinet House
The Dutch Reformed parsonage of 1812 is now the Graaff-Reinet Museum.
Heritage sites
Open in Google MapsThe Republic of Graaff-Reinet
Frontier burghers rejected VOC authority in 1795 and proclaimed a short-lived republic.
Stories
Robert Sobukwe
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, founder of the Pan Africanist Congress, was born here in 1924.
People
St James' Anglican Church
The oldest original church building still in use in Graaff-Reinet was consecrated in 1850.
Churches & institutions
Open in Google MapsTrinity Methodist Church
The foundation stone was laid in 1871 and Trinity Methodist Church opened in 1875.
Churches & institutions
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