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From Finishing School to French Kiss: The Many Lives of 96 End Street
The definitive history of 96 End Street including club mixes from Mandy’s and IDOLS
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Exploring Regina Gelana Twala’s Legacy
Over the past few months, I’ve been assisting Professor Joel Cabrita at Stanford University with research on two projects. The work has been focused on tracking down images and information on various sites connected to the research. The first project has been published online. Click HERE for the full site for the Regina Gelana Twala…
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Update to Lost Churches of Johannesburg
Usually, around this time of the year, I’d be publishing a new post of some description. It seems a post a year is about my average given the amount of work that goes into them. Of course, the algorithms and digital media experts would all disagree with that strategy, but I don’t really care much…
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Hotels of Early Johannesburg
A history and listing of the ‘good, bad, and ugly’ hotels in Johannesburg CBD and Hillbrow from 1886 to the mid-1980s
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This is Joburg interview
My friend and journalist Charles Leonard interviewed me a few weeks ago for his new podcast ‘This is Joburg’.
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History of Newtown Pt.3 (1970-2020)
The final part of Newtown’s history covers the period from the mid-1970s with the start of the Market Theatre complex and subsequent developments up to 2020.
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Notes from the underground Feb 2023
Why the underground? Last year I moved my research library into the ‘cellar’ under the house where I also keep my music. Father’s Day brought gifts of desk lights, concrete blocks, and wood, that transformed one section of the space. It doesn’t quite house all the Johannesburg books yet but it is a vast improvement.…
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History of Newtown Pt.2
Initially, I wanted to complete Newtown in two parts. While working with the 1937 Goads map and a 1974 Curries Map of Johannesburg, I started digging into the various business names listed on the maps and uncovered some fascinating histories of some businesses that had their start in Newtown after the completion of the abattoir…
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History of Newtown Pt.1
The area known as Newtown was originally a marshy piece of land outside of the triangle known as Raandjeslaagte which was laid out as Johannesburg. It stood 0.9 kms northwest of the original market square and just south of the railway/Rand Tram. The Boer government granted plots for brick-making with adjoining residential stands soon after…
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Barnett’s Panorama of Johannesburg c1897
Over the last 10 years, while writing this blog and researching early Johannesburg, I’ve looked at thousands of photographs in books, online, and in various archives. While backing-up photos, I came across a number of early street shots of Johannesburg and thought it would be a good idea to try and date them by identifying…
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Johannesburg 1912 - suburb by suburb research 