Durban's humble beginnings
The Intersection of West and Gardiner streets in Durban, shortly after the original Point railway was opened in 1860. In the background is the station and train sheds. The animals pulling the cart are facing north. They would have been in front of the city's original town hall which is today the post office. The man standing is where the Natal Bank building used to be
Image: Illustrated London News
The old picture of Durban this week is a very early picture of Durban and appeared in the Illustrated London News. It shows the city with unpaved streets and before electricity or motorcars. It was probably taken shortly after the establishment of the Point Railway line in 1860, which incidentally was the first stretch of line in South Africa - used to carry goods from the docks on the Point to the city centre.
The original line ran down what was the Pine Terrace, later Pine Street and today Monty Naicker Street. It turned at what was then Point Road (today Mahatma Gandhi Road). The original station building and the engine shed can be seen in the background.
The intersection is of West Street (today Dr Pixley kaSeme) and Gardiner (Dorothy Nyembe) looking north. The man leaning on a post in the foreground is on the corner of the site of the Natal Bank which has undergone a number of different buidings on this corner before its incorporation into what was the Barclays and today First National. It was originally established to fund the province's sugar industry.
On the other side of the road, behind the oxen is the site of Durban's first town hall, built in the 1880s and designed by Philip Dudgeon. It is now the Durban Main Post Office, a national monument opposite the current City Hall, which was completed in 1910. It was on these steps that Winston Churchill gave his speech after his escape from the Boer War. This building hosted the initial negotiations for South Africa's Union in 1908.
The scene today, shot from the other side of the road so one could get the station in in the background. On the left is the modern high rise that replaced the Natal Bank Building and on the right the old town hall, now the Post Office.
Image: Frank Chemaly
Behind in the today picture you can see Durban's modern station on the site. The Victorian red brick building was built in 1892 when the Natal Government Railways experienced a surge in economic development, mainly to link the railway with Johannesburg..
Originally a two-storey building, another two storeys were added in the early 1900s. The wrought-building's iron verandah and the brick and ochre plaster mouldings on the façade are of special interest. It was declared a National Monument in 1979. After the new Durban station was built in the early 1908s, the building was saved and converted to office space.
The modern picture today shows a very different and built up city. Dorothy Nyembe road is also now one-way going in the opposite direction (towards the bay) as the old oven drawn cart was travelling.