My next feature piece on JHBlive is out and gives a brief history on the site where Ponte now stands. Read it HERE in all it’s glory. If you’re a…
In early 1900s – 1920s various yards emerged in the Jeppe area and adjacent in what was termed ‘New Doornfontein’. A yard (or slumyard) was an area that housed workers from around the city (mostly black domestic servants like ‘house boys’, ‘kitche…
It appears as though I’ve mistaken my mansions (or at least the reference books I’m using have) I’ve always believed the house that once stood on the hill on Harrow Road across from where Ponte is now was known as THE TURRETS. It was in fact calle…
On the very edge of old Doornfontein running North to South is End Street – so called because that is where town literally ended. What was to become Doornfontein on the right was then just grazing land. John Dale Lace (Norman House) and Barney Bar…
The well-heeled of the population were not satisfied with living in the small blocks laid out by the town planners near the mines and noise and dust of the new town. In 1887, Johannesburg’s first luxury residential area was laid out by Yeo Sherwel…
Johannesburg 1912 - suburb by suburb research 