Aliwal North

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Sandstone building on the busy N6 Route between East London and Johannesburg.

Frere Bridge was opened on 21 July 1880.

Aliwal North is a town in central South Africa on the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. Aliwal North is the seat of the Maletswai Local Municipality which falls within the Ukhahlamba District Municipality.

The principal attractions of Aliwal North are two hot mineral springs, both of which have extremely high concentrations of minerals and gases.

Aliwal North is named in tribute to Sir Harry Smith. Sir Harry Smith, then Governor of the Cape Colony, formally founded the small town of Aliwal North in the Cape Province of South Africa in 1850. He named the town Aliwal North in memory of his victory over the Sikhs at the Battle of Aliwal during the First Sikh War in India in 1846.

The park in the centre of Aliwal North, the Juana Square Gardens was named after Smith's wife Juana Maria de Los Dolores de Leon. One of the first white settlers in the area, Pieter Jacobus De Wet built a house at nearby Buffelsvlei in about 1828. The settlement of the area and its development into a town probably is connected to the presence of good water, thermal springs and a good fording place ('drift') across the Orange River, just below its confluence with the Kraai River. The Frere Bridge was opened in 1880 and later replaced with the General Hertzog Bridge. The town was laid out in 1849 on ground acquired by the government. This was auctioned and 38 lots were sold for £972. The auctioneers were the Jewish firm, Mosenthal Brothers. (See South African Jews and also Stammbaum {published by Leo Baeck Institute, NYC}, Issue 25, article by Adam Yamey)

Since the ending of aparthheid, Aliwal North has diminished relative to the busier main centre of Dukatole