Timeline of Port Elizabeth

The following is a timeline of the history of Port Elizabeth in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Eastern Cape province, South Africa.

Prior to 20th century

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Historical states in present-day South Africa

before 1600 Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1050–1270) Kingdom of Mutapa (1430–1760)
1600–1700 Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1795)
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1900–present Cape Colony (1806–1910) Union of South Africa (1910–1961) Transkei (1976–1994) Bophuthatswana (1977–1994) Venda (1979–1994) Ciskei (1981–1994) Republic of South Africa (1961–present)
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1754 - Dutch settlements at the Cape extended eastwards to adjacent Algoa Bay.^[1]
1799 - Fort Frederick built by British during the Napoleonic wars.^[1]
1820 - Port Elizabeth settlement founded by British.^[2]^[1]
1823 - Population: 319.^[3]
1836 - Made a free warehousing port
1841 - Jetty constructed in Algoa Bay.^[4]
1845 - Eastern Province Herald newspaper begins publication.^[5]
1856
- Grey High School founded.^[3]
- King George VI Art Gallery opens.
1859 - St George's Park founded.
1861 - Town of Port Elizabeth incorporated.^[1]
1862 - Western-Road Synagogue formed.^[6]
1865 - Hill Presbyterian Church consecrated.
1866 - St. Augustine's Cathedral built.
1873 - Railway station building starts.^[1]
1875
- Uitenhage-Port Elizabeth railway begins operating.^[3]
- Port Elizabeth railway station built.^[7]
1880 - Prince Alfred's Guard Drill Hall built.
1881 - Horsecar tram begins operating.
1882
- Imbumba yama Nyama political group formed.^[8]
- Conservatory built in St George's Park.
1885 - "South African Exhibition" held^[9]
1888 - Mighty Elephants rugby team formed.^{[chronology citation needed]}
1889 - St George's Park Cricket Ground in use.
1892 - Opera House built.
1897 - Electric tram begins operating.
1899 - Humewood Road railway station built.
1900 - Post Office built.

20th century

1900-1902 - Port Elizabeth Concentration Camp in operation
1903 - New Brighton black township established.
1905 - Horse Memorial erected.
1907
- NG gemeente Port Elizabeth [af] (church) founded.
- Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial unveiled.
1908
- Port Elizabeth Orthodox Hebrew Congregation formed.^{[chronology citation needed]}
- Devastating flooding
1912 - Raleigh Street Synagogue [de] built.
1913 - Port Elizabeth gains city status.^[1]
1917 - Airplane flown from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.^{[citation needed]}
1928 - NG gemeente Port Elizabeth-Sentraal [af] (church) founded.
1929 - Port Elizabeth Airport and Gereformeerde kerk Port Elizabeth [af] (church) established.
1936 - Campanile (belltower) installed.
1937 - Oosterlig [af] newspaper begins publication.^[5]
1940 - NG gemeente Port Elizabeth-Wes [af] (church) founded.
1940 - Victoria Park High School was founded
1949 - Adcockvale [af] suburb laid out (approximate date).
1950 - Evening Post [af] newspaper begins publication.^[5]
1951 - Van Stadens-veldblomreservaat [af] (nature reserve) established near city.
1952 - Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba and Vuyisile Mini were imprisoned for three months in Rooi Hel ('Red Hell' or North End Prison, Port Elizabeth) for participating in the Defiance Campaign.
1954 - 20th Century Theatre in business.^[10]
1960
- Boet Erasmus Stadium opens.
- Alliance Française of Port Elizabeth founded.
1961 - 16 December: Bombings.^[11]
1964 - University of Port Elizabeth established.
1965 - Walmer, South Africa becomes part of Port Elizabeth.
1969 - Kouga Dam begins operating in vicinity of city.
1979 - Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation founded.
1984
- Port Elizabeth Youth Congress founded.[1]
- Development of Motherwell begins near city.
1985
- March: Labor strike.^[12]^[13]
- 8 May: Disappearance of "Pebco Three" anti-apartheid activists.
- 27 June: The deaths of "The Cradock Four" political activists.
1986 - Jewish Pioneer's Memorial Museum [de] established.^(de)
1991 - Population: 303,353 city; 853,205 metro.^[5]
1995
- Nceba Faku elected mayor.^[14]
- Part of 1995 Rugby World Cup contest played in Port Elizabeth.
1996 - Part of 1996 Africa Cup of Nations football contest played in Port Elizabeth.

21st century

2001
- Port Elizabeth becomes the seat of the newly-created Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.^[15]
- Anti-apartheid leader Govan Mbeki dies at age 91.
2004 - Website Mandelametro.gov.za launched.^[16]
2005
- First premier of the Eastern Cape and anti-apartheid leader Raymond Mhlaba dies at the ages of 85 years.
- Nelson Mandela University formed.
- Red Location Museum of apartheid opens.
2006
- 1 March: South African municipal elections, 2006 held.
- Nondumiso Maphazi becomes mayor.^(fr)
- Bay United F.C. (football club) formed.
2009
- Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium opens.
- Zanoxolo Wayile becomes mayor.^[17]^(fr)
- Southern Kings rugby team formed.
2010
- Gelvandale Stadium opens.
- Part of 2010 FIFA World Cup football contest played in Port Elizabeth.
2011 - Population: 312,392.
2013
- Part of 2013 Africa Cup of Nations football contest played in Port Elizabeth.
- Ben Fihla becomes mayor.^[17]
2015
- Danny Jordaan becomes mayor.^[17]
- Chippa United F.C. moved to the city from Cape Town.
2016 - Athol Trollip becomes mayor.
2021
- Name officially changed from Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha.^[18]
2023 - Eight people are killed in a mass shooting.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Britannica 1910.
^ W. H. Hosking (1914). "Chronology of South Africa". South African Year-book. London: George Routledge and Sons. pp. 10–27.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Port Elizabeth Timeline 1799-1986". Cape Town: South African History Online. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ H.L. Huisman (1971). "How Port Elizabeth got its first jetty". Civil Engineering. 13. hdl:10520/AJA10212019_18711.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "South Africa". Africa South of the Sahara 2003. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2003. ISBN 978-1-85743-131-5. ISSN 0065-3896.
^ Isidore Harris, ed. (1901), "Colonial Synagogues: South Africa", Jewish Year Book, London: Greenberg & Co.
^ Huisman, H L (October 1986). "The coming of the Railway to the Cape". Restorica. No. 20. hdl:2263/47120.
^ Robert Ross; et al., eds. (2011). Cambridge History of South Africa. Vol. 2: 1885–1994. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86983-6.
^ "The South African Exhibition, Port Elizabeth, 1885: Lectures, Prize and ... - Google Books". 1886. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ "Movie Theaters in Port Elizabeth, South Africa". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ Jacqueline Audrey Kalley; et al., eds. (1999). Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-30247-3.
^ Mark Swilling (1985). "Urban Social Movements under Apartheid". Cahiers d'Études africaines. 25 (99): 363–379. doi:10.3406/cea.1985.1735 – via Persee.fr.
^ "Report: The March Stay-aways in Port Elizabeth and UItenhage". South African Labour Bulletin. 11. 1985. ISSN 0377-5429.
^ "Former Mandela Bay mayor lashes out at Zuma", Iol.co.za, 23 November 2016
^ "Pecc.gov.za". Archived from the original on 3 June 2002.
^ "Mandelametro.gov.za". Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Archived from the original on 23 October 2005 – via Wayback Machine.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Danny Jordaan ANC's choice to replace Nelson Mandela Bay mayor", News24.com, 18 May 2015
^ "BREAKING | It is official, Port Elizabeth has a new name — Gqeberha". DispatchLIVE. Retrieved 15 August 2021.

This article incorporates information from the Afrikaans Wikipedia, French Wikipedia, and German Wikipedia.

Bibliography

"Directory of Port Elizabeth". Cape of Good Hope Almanac and Annual Register for 1853. Cape Town: Van de Sandt de Villiers & Tier. 1852.
Port Elizabeth Directory and Guide to the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope. Port Elizabeth: J.W.C. Mackay. 1877.
John Noble, ed. (1886). "Cities and Towns of the Colony". Official Handbook: History, Productions and Resources of the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Town: Saul Solomon & Co. for the Colonial & Indian Exhibition Committee. Port Elizabeth
"Port Elizabeth" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 112–113.
Eleanor K Lorimer (1971). Panorama of Port Elizabeth. Cape Town: A. A. Balkema. OCLC 297945.
H.O. Terblanche (1977). "Die trek van die Afrikaner na Port Elizabeth" [Trek of the Afrikaner to Port Elizabeth]. Historia. 22 (1). Historical Association of South Africa: 90–107. hdl:10520/AJA0018229X_323.
A. J. Christopher (1987). "Apartheid Planning in South Africa: The Case of Port Elizabeth". Geographical Journal. 153 (2): 195–204. doi:10.2307/634871. JSTOR 634871.
J.G. Nel (1989). "Making of an Apartheid City: The Case of Port Elizabeth, Republic of South Africa". African Urban Quarterly. 4. ISSN 0747-6108.
A. J. Christopher (1991). "Port Elizabeth". In Anthony Lemon (ed.). Homes Apart: South Africa's Segregated Cities. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33321-0.
Janet Cherry (1993). "myth of working class defeat: Port Elizabeth in the post-war years". Kronos: Journal of Cape History. 20. University of the Western Cape. hdl:10520/AJA02590190_435.
H.O. Terblanche; M.J. Swart (1993). "Die Afrikaner se stryd om taalgelykberegtiging in Port Elizabeth, 1902-1937" [Afrikaner's struggle for language equality in Port Elizabeth, 1902-1937]. South African Journal of Cultural History (in Afrikaans). 7. hdl:10520/AJA10113053_59.
Jennifer Robinson (1993). "Politics of urban form: differential citizenship and township formation in Port Elizabeth 1925-1945". Kronos: Journal of Cape History. 20. hdl:10520/AJA02590190_434.
Gary Baines (1998). "Port Elizabeth history: a select annotated bibliography". South African Historical Journal (38).
H.O. Terblanche (1998). "Die stigting van die eerste Afrikaanse koerante in Port Elizabeth" [Foundation of the first Afrikaans newspapers in Port Elizabeth]. South African Journal of Cultural History (in Afrikaans). 12 (1): 60–74. hdl:10520/AJA10113053_103.
Gary Baines (2004). "A Progressive South African City?". Journal of Urban History. 31.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Port Elizabeth.

"Registry: (Port Elizabeth)". Archivalplatform.org. Rondebosch. (Directory of South African archival and memory institutions and organisations)
"(Port Elizabeth)". AfricaBib.org. (Bibliography)
"(Port Elizabeth)" – via Digital Public Library of America. (Images, etc.)

v t e Municipalities and communities of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape
District seat: Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha)
Cities and towns	Beachview Bethelsdorp Colchester Despatch Ibhayi Motherwell New Brighton Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) Redhouse Seaview Skoenmakerskop Swartkops Uitenhage (Kariega) Van Stadensriviermond	Nelson Mandela Bay within South Africa

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