The Feathermarket Centre

In PEs early days, it was the major port for the export of hugely popular ostrich feathers. The ostrich industry was thriving, and a huge hall was built close to the harbour at which the feathers were auctioned. Over the years the industry declined, and the hall was used for concerts and other public gatherings. … Continue reading The Feathermarket Centre →

Breaking News……………….

We have started a new City Daily Photo Blog. It is called St Francis Daily Photo. St Francis is about 100km west of Port Elizabeth, and is a delightful little coastal village (well 2 actually.) As we adore the place and spend lots of time there, and have TONS of photos, and as there are … Continue reading Breaking News………………. →

Arriving….

A ship is brought into the harbour at sunrise, to the right you can see one of the two tugs which shepherd it into its berth.

The Baakens Valley

This view of the Baakens Valley shows a few interesting historic features. On the left you see a few graves on the road verge, beyond the shadow of the large building. These belong to Muslim members of the old South End Community, mentioned when we showed you the Pier Street Mosque. Inside the walled St … Continue reading The Baakens Valley →

An exhibit at Red Location Museum

This is an exhibit in the fascinating Red Location museum. It shows anti apartheid posters which were circulated when the restrictions were at their worst, anyone found with one of these would have been in for a very bad time! The books on the little tables are transcripts of the proceedings of the Truth and … Continue reading An exhibit at Red Location Museum →

a detour

Hi there, would you like to travel with us? We are in Port St Francis for the weekend, and thought you might like to come along for the ride! It is home away from home for many Port Elizabethans who have properties here, as it is just an hour away on a good freeway, and … Continue reading a detour →

North End Seaboard

One of the prime beaches in Port Elizabeth in the early years was the North End Beach. If you look at this article on tall ships wrecked in a massive gale, the ships shown in the vintage photographs were stranded on North End Beach. Sadly the land was taken over by the Railways, and a … Continue reading North End Seaboard →

The Westbourne Oval

This sports oval, now host to many school sports days and track and cycle events, started out as a muddy vlei (wetland) known in the late 1800s as "Russell Road Dam". It is right next to the lands which belonged to the London Missionary Society, where bubonic plague broke out in 1902. The vlei was … Continue reading The Westbourne Oval →

The Old Fire Station

Another of the "Kloofs" in PE which carries a major arterial road used to be called Coopers Kloof, until Albany Road was built through it. Construction began in 1865. This building is Port Elizabeth's Old Fire Station, built in 1930, which has been replaced by a modern new facility in Summerstrand. It is now used … Continue reading The Old Fire Station →

Target Kloof

One of the main suburbs of Port Elizabeth is Walmer. In the early days, it was a seperate village with its own Town Hall, but it has long since been absorbed into the PE Metropole. Because much of the coastal part of the city is built on a series of sandstone hills, bisected by fairly … Continue reading Target Kloof →