Kempton Park (G 9)

Name: Kempton Park

Source: http://www.kemptalk.com/history_of_kempton_park.htm

Prior to the Great Trek of the 1830's, the area on which Kempton Park now stands was known only to hunters and nomad cattle farmers. The first seeds of the Kempton Park story were planted when, on 25 October 1859, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Z.A.R.) issued a title deed for part of the farm Zuurfontein on which Kempton Park would develop many years later.

The discovery of gold in 1886 some 50 kilometers west of Zuurfontein stimulated, amongst others, the building of a railway line, which would serve as a link between the Transvaal gold fields and the east coast. On 25 June 1890, the Z.A.R. government granted a concession for the building of a railway line from Pretoria, bypassing Johannesburg on the east and directed to the Vaal River by the shortest route. The main line cut directly through the farm Zuurfontein, thus forging another link in the destiny of the yet unborn township of Kempton Park.

One of the stations established was at Zuurfontein. Zuurfontein station soon became a gathering place for resident farmers in the area where they collected their supplies.


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