Mooi River (town)

This article is about the town. For the rivers, see Mooi River.
Mooi River

Mooirivier railway station
Mooi River

 Mooi River shown within KwaZulu-Natal

Coordinates: 29°12′S 29°59′E / 29.200°S 29.983°E / -29.200; 29.983Coordinates: 29°12′S 29°59′E / 29.200°S 29.983°E / -29.200; 29.983
Country South Africa
Province KwaZulu-Natal
District Umgungundlovu
Municipality Mpofana
Established 1852
Area[1]
  Total 11.43 km2 (4.41 sq mi)
Elevation 1,393 m (4,570 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
  Total 2,874
  Density 250/km2 (650/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
  Black African 51.7%
  Coloured 4.3%
  Indian/Asian 21.1%
  White 22.0%
  Other 0.8%
First languages (2011)[1]
  English 48.7%
  Zulu 38.6%
  Afrikaans 5.4%
  Xhosa 1.0%
  Other 6.4%
PO box 3300
Area code 033

Mooi River (Afrikaans: Mooirivier) is a small town situated at 1,389 m above sea level and 160 km from the coast in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The first European settlement in the area was at Mooi River Drift in 1852. This was formally named Weston in 1866 after the first Governor of Natal, Martin West. In 1879, an Irishman named Alexander Lawrence purchased the farm "Grantleigh" upstream from Weston, on the banks of the Mooi River. "Mooirivier" is Afrikaans for "beautiful river". In 1884, the railway line from Durban, on the coast, to Johannesburg, in the interior, reached the area and was built across Alexander Lawrence's land. He subsequently laid out and establish the village of Lawrenceville on his farm "Grantleigh" and so is known as "The Father of Mooi River". In 1921, the village was renamed Mooi River when it was declared a town. It lies on the principal road N3 and rail routes between Johannesburg and Durban.[2] Although the railway-station is no longer used for passengers, goods are still carried. There is a toll plaza located on the N3 at Mooi River.

There are six schools serving the Mooi River municipal area with numerous others further from town that serve the traditional farm labourer communities. The six main schools are:

The urban economy of the area is currently based primarily on Retail entrepreneurship, Tourism and supporting the local agricultural community. Previously, the backbone of the urban economy had been Mooi River Textiles which finally closed in 2002 after years of down-sizing. The decline of the textile industry is being reversed however with large foreign investment from the Far-East.

The rural economy is based on agriculture and tourism. The main farming categories are dairy and equine. Local farmers are supported by the Mooi River Farmers Association

Mooi River forms an important part of the Midlands Meander tourism route

People

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Mooi River". Census 2011.
  2. "Mooi River". SA Routes, Bookings and Info Systems. Retrieved 2010-03-26. External link in |publisher= (help)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.