GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Thousands of holidaymakers have been coming to the Garden Route for many years.
You might remember some of the more recent events.
- 1811 George proclaimed 9th magisterial district in the Cape Colony
- 1812 Furrows cut from mountain stream on slopes for water supply
- The Gaol was the first public building completed
1813
- Courthouse built on the corner of York & Courtenay St
- London Missionary Society established in Pacaltsdorp
- 1825 'Klipkerk' Gothic Revival with Norman style tower in Pacaltsdorp
- 1829 Trial plantings of hops successful on the farm Genevafontein
- 1830 Horse racing course at the bottom of York St
- 1834 Emancipation of slaves
- 1848Montagu Pass over the Outeniqua Mountain opened
- 1848 Old Town House built
- 1868 Bain started work on Seven Passes Road from George to Knysna
- 1869The Great Fire – from Swellendam to Uitenhage
- 1873 Telegraph line reached George from Cape Town
- 1898 Seven Passes Road finally completed
- 1905King Edward VII Library opens (now Tourism Bureau)
- 1906 George Golf Club opens
1907
- Rail link from Mossel Bay opens
- 1908 Nine paraffin lamps placed at main street corners
- First "talkie movie" - film synchronised with gramophone
- 1911Telephone exchange in operation
- 1912Bioscope opens in Market St
- 1913Rail Link to Oudtshoorn opens
- 1920 Bucket system introduced for "night soil"
- 1924 Rosemoor founded and the first 50 houses completed
- 1925 Electricity lights up George, powered by a wood-burning steam power station.
- 1926 Kaaiman's River Pass opens to traffic
- 1928 Rail link to Knysna opens
1929
- Aeroplane lands on George airstrip near railway station
- St Mary's church, school, clinic and orphanage established in Rosemoor
- 1932 Saasveld School of Forestry opens
1935
- Tarring of George streets begins
- Valve radios give George "music from the sky"
- George Dam, an arch dam wall, completed
- Direct telephone dialling
- New steam-powered electricity plant for alternating current
- 1938CAW 1 000 vehicle registration reached
- 1940 Standard Bank building goes up
- 1941 RAF 61 Air School training school on site of Earl's Court Development, Rooirivierrif
- 1942 Italian prisoner of war base camp in Blanco
1944
- Robot installed on York and Langenhoven streets, both national roads at the time
- 1948 Post Office - Neo Classical Revival style with Victorian clock
1950
- Kaaimans River Bridge opened - the first curved road bridge in SA
- First charge under Immorality Act of 1950
- 1951 Outeniqua Pass opens
- 1956 First phase of sewerage scheme started in town
- 1957 "White" tap water comes to George (up till then, water was brown from rivers in mountain)
- 1966 Checkers first supermarket opens c/o Meade and Market streets
1973
- Outeniqua Choe-Tjoe begins as tourist attraction
1977
- Dromedaris "Drive-in Cinema" opens
- George Airport constructed for jet aircraft opens
1981
- New Garden Route Dam, built 1979, full after two-year drought
- Highest annual rainfall recorded: 1 656mm
- Pick n Pay Superstore opens
- 1986 N2 complete, opens
- 1986 Lawaaikamp uprising
- 1990 First mosque opens
- 1997 First strip mall known as Game Centre in York Street opens
- 1999 Checkers Centre at Paddagat in Knysna Road opens
- 2003 President's Cup held at Fancourt
- 2005 Garden Route Mall opens
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University opens
- 46664 benefit concert held at Fancourt
2010
- Outeniqua Park re-grassed for the Japanese world cup soccer team that uses George as its training base
- Article compiled by Lynne Thompson, volunteer at the George Museum
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hesseuqa,Klein Karoo news'
