Charlestown

KwaZulu-Natal

The small town of Charlestown had it's beginnings as a railway junction. In the 1890's the Durban railway line (part of a race to complete railway links between the gold-fields of Johannesburg and the three major port cities Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Durban) came to an abrupt halt when President Paul Kruger refused permission for the line to enter the Transvaal until the Pretoria - Lourenco Marques line is complete. Charlestown grew around this junction and was named in honor of Sir Charles Mitchell, Governor of Natal.

During the 1960's, the government forcibly moved the residence of Charlestown to a settlement near Newcastle and Charlestown became a ghost town. The land has since been returned to the people but has lost all it's former glory as a vibrant railway junction.

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References and Resources Rediscovering South Africa - The Unreliable Guide Andrew Unsworth; Heather Robertson; Stephen Haw Following in the footsteps of The Sunday Times Explorer team who undertook a 37-week journey to rediscover South Africa. HomePage : David Victor Larsen Discovering Southern Africa: 6th Edition T.V. Bulpin Discovering Southern Africa is regarded as the standard travel guide to Africa south of the Zambezi river, one of the greatest guide books published anywhere in the world, readable, informative, diverting and crammed with interesting comments. Wikipedia - Charlestown, KwaZulu-Natal