A Cape Town Sandy Bay tagged image from photographer – denisbin as published on Flickr.
Tarnagulla. Old gold mining town. Lochcarrow building. Built 1859.
Image by denisbin
Tarnagulla. Population 130.
Gold was discovered here at Sandy Creek in 1852. Many New Zealanders went to the gold rush here and the second main mining area was called Poverty Gully after Poverty Bay in New Zealand. In 1860 Sandy Creek was changed to Tarnagulla. The Victoria Hotel and theatre and some other buildings in the town date from the early 1860s when it was founded as a town. It must have been a religious place as between 1864-69 Anglican, Wesleyan, Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Welsh and Primitive Methodist churches were opened in the town! But as the diggers left the churches were demolished or transported elsewhere and only four remained by the end of the 19th century. The town had a Mechanics Institute from 1858 and the Victoria Hotel and Theatre from 1861. The Victoria Hotel is now the public hall for Tarnagulla. Gold mining ceased around 1912 at Tarnagulla and not much has happened there since. But the beautiful Gothic Wesleyan Methodist church with polychromatic Flemish bond brick work was burnt down in 2000. The churches are now private residences including the Presbyterian 1864; the Catholic 1912; the Anglican 1864. The 1863 built Courthouse and the 1856 Gold Warden’s Office, later Post Office are residences.
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Fun Western Cape Fact: The southern coastal area of the Western Cape is also fertile, while fishing is the most important industry along the west coast. Sheep farming is the mainstay of the Karoo, and other forms of husbandry take place in the better watered parts of the province.
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