Johannesburg 1912 – suburb by suburb research – Page 3 – "What is fashionable now is despised by the next generation, thought quaint by the following and revered by the one thereafter"

History of Hillbrow Pt.1

On the 13 July 1893 a court ruled that the claim for the ground that would become Hillbrow belonged to J. Nicholls. He swiftly sold it to Transvaal Mortgage, Loan & Finance with which Sam Goldreich was associated. The ground was surveyed in 1894 and on the 20th May 1895 permission was received to change…

Marc Latilla

January 7, 2016

Johannesburg

Bruce Street, Carl Von Brandis, Claim Street, Clarendon Circle, Deutsche Schule, Fred Ingram, Friedenskirche, Gordon Leith, Hillbrow, Hospital Hill, Imerman’s, Ingram’s Corner, J. F. Kroll, Kotze Street, Le Corbusier, Le Herve, Lutheran Church, Martienssen, Oscar Niemeyer, Paul Nel Street, Pretoria Street, Sam Goldreich, Theophile Schaerer, Twist Street, Van Der Merwe Street, William Leck
Hospital Hill (Old Suburb between Braamfontein & Hillbrow)

Hospital Hill was a popular name for the eastern part of the March 1888 surveyed part of the township of Johannesburg. It included the land on the hill where the first general hospital was built (the land granted by the government), Joubert Park and northerly surrounds, Kruger Park (which became the Wanderer’s Sports Club) and…

Marc Latilla

January 2, 2016

Johannesburg

Athenaeum club, Constitution Hill, Esselen, Fever hospital, Florence Nightingale Clinic, Fort, Gordon Leith, Government Mortuary, Governor’s House, Hillbrow Hospital, Hillbrow Recreation Centre, Hospital Hill, Non-European Hospital, Old Gaol, Old Johannesburg General Hospital, Public Works Department, Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital, Sir Herbert Baker, South African Institute for Medical Research, Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children, Woman’s Prison
Hillbrow’s revolving restaurant and disco

While I wrestle with the next suburb post (Hospital Hill & Hillbrow) and the final part of the church piece, I wanted to share some pages from a Johannesburg tourist guide from April 1973. Thanks to Doran from Bookdealers in Melville who is always on the lookout for rare and interesting Johannesburg books for my…

Marc Latilla

September 26, 2015

Johannesburg

Bamboo Inn, Bella Napoli, Bengal Tiger, Berea, Bookdealers, Brixton Tower, Carlton Centre, Ciro’s, Cloud 9, Crest Hotel, Heinrich’s Restaurant, Hillbrow, J. G. Strijdom Tower, Jan Smuts Airport, Lourenco Marques Restaurant, Moulin Rouge Hotel, Mrs. Henderson’s, Munchener House, Norman’s Grill, Red Lantern, Three Ships, ZIPPS
Lost churches of early Johannesburg

This is part one of a piece on lost churches in early Johannesburg. Part two will focus on old churches that are still standing but no longer used as originally intended (and a few that are, but only the old ones up to the 1950s…). For continuity, I have included the existing version of a…

Marc Latilla

June 16, 2015

Johannesburg

African Methodist Episcopal Church, Apostolic Faith Mission SA, Baptist church, Beit Street, Braamfontein, Catholic churches, Chassidic Synagogue, churches, Doornfontein, Dutch Reform Church, Early Johannesburg, Ebenezer church, Eloff Street, Fordsburg, Harrow Road, Jewish history, Maronite, mosques, native missions, Ponovez Synagogue, Presbyterian church, Rev. Darragh, Rosebank Union Church, Sivewright Avenue, synagogues, Talmud Torah Synagogue, Wesleyan
History of Braamfontein Pt.4 (Rand Show, WITS, Nunnery, Brewery)

The Milner Park history of the Rand Easter Show (or Witwatersrand Agricultural Show as it was known) Read the 1894-1902 history of the Rand Show HERE In 1903 Lord Milner convinced the Transvaal government to donate a large open space to the city as a gift. It was named Milner Park and was to become…

Marc Latilla

April 29, 2015

Johannesburg

Aerial photographs, Braamfontein, Early Johannesburg, Empire Exhibition, Empire Road, Fever hospital, Golden Jubilee, Helpmekaar School, Holy Trinity Church, Jan Smuts Avenue, King George VI, Lord Selborne, Nunnery, Ohlssons Cape Brewery, Public Works Department, Rand Show, SAB, UJ, University of Johannesburg, WITS University, Witwatersrand Agricultural Society
A rare and detailed street map of Johannesburg from 1929

Some housekeeping: Please follow me on Instagram at @johannesburg1912 where I post interesting Johannesburg related stuff on weekends (mainly). Follow this blog via e-mail HERE. Scroll down on the right after archives. My first book ‘Johannesburg Then & Now’ is available at local bookstores or internationally via Amazon or kindle. Click HERE for the relevant…

Marc Latilla

April 25, 2015

Johannesburg

Barry Hertzog Avenue, Early Johannesburg, Empire Road, Gasworks, history of johannesburg, Jan Smuts Avenue, Louis Botha Avenue, Map, Parktown, Stanley Avenue, trams
Rare 1931 Map of Johannesburg tram system

My book dealer tracked down this rare map of the Johannesburg tram system from 1931. I’ve taken a picture of the full map but as it’s quite a big fold-out map, it doesn’t photograph clearly. There are some smaller and clearer sections of the suburbs presented below as well as tram information printed on the…

Marc Latilla

March 21, 2015

Johannesburg

Early Johannesburg, electric trams, history of johannesburg, Map, trams
History of Braamfontein Pt.3 (Explosion, Cemetery & Early Rand Show)

This is part 3 of what will finally be a 4 part history on Braamfontein. Do go back and check the first two parts here and here as some of the original pictures have been updated with better quality shots. There are also some new additions that weren’t available when the posts were originally published.…

Marc Latilla

January 11, 2015

Johannesburg

Braamfontein, Bramfontein Cemetery, Early Johannesburg, history of johannesburg, Hohenheim, Parktown, Rand Show, Sir Lionel Phillips, Sir Thomas Cullinan, The View, Witwatersrand Agricultural Society
History of Braamfontein Pt.2 (Lost Braamfontein)

I’ve come across yet another suburb name that a part of Braamfontein was once known as: Argyle (or Argyll). This was once known as Johannesburg’s smallest suburb and was a few blocks west of the old Johannesburg Hospital. According to Anna Smith’s ‘History of Johannesburg street names’, the Transvaal Volksraad granted Commandant Daniel Egnatius Schutte…

Marc Latilla

September 30, 2014

Johannesburg

All Saints Clifton Parish Hall, Ameshoff Street, Argyle, Braamfontein, Braamfontein Dutch Refrom Church, Civic Centre, Civic Theatre, Clifton, Clifton Methodist Church, Devonshire Hotel, Early Johannesburg, Geldenhuys Building, Henri Street, history of johannesburg, Hospital Hill School, Jooste & Bryant, Juta Street, Sacke Residence, Spes Bona School
History of Braamfontein Pt.1

Braamfontein today is largely unchanged from 30 years ago. It seems like it’s always just been this way, but its long history starts off as a farm in 1853 to a booming middle-class residential suburb in the mid-1890s to the 1930s. During the economic and building booms of the 1930s and 1950s, many businesses relocated…

Marc Latilla

July 27, 2014

Johannesburg

Braamfontein, Braamfontein enclosure, Clifton, Clifton Hotel, Clifton Methodist Church, Clifton Reef, Emmerentia, Frans Geldenhuys, Gert Bezhuidenhout, Johannesburg Train Station, Kitcheners, Lindeque’s Portion, Lord Kitchener, Lourens Geldenhuys, Milner, Milner Park Hotel, Old Wanderers, Randjeslaagte, REFORM! Sound System, Smit Street Hotel School, The Gables, Wanderers, Wanderers View