Brakpan 100: How some of the streets were given their names
No record can be found of anybody named Kitzinger in South African history.
Have you ever wondered how many well-known Brakpan streets and parks got their names?
• End Street: Marked the western end of town and is situated on the western boundary of the farm Weltevreden.
• Boundary Road: Was the southern boundary of the town.
• Power Street: Is on the eastern edge of the town and take its name from the power lines which ran alongside it.
• Station Road: Passes along the front of the railway station.
• Goods Road: Gave access to the goods office at the station.
• Railway Street: Lies alongside the railway line.
Street names that have changed:
• Prince George Avenue: Was originally Springs Road. When Prince George, the Duke of Kent, visited in 1934, the name was changed and he performed the ceremony during a brief stopover in the town.
• Voortrekker Road: When the Voortrekker wagons visited Brakpan in 1938 on their way to Pretoria, Clr Bakkes, then mayor, changed the name Modder Road to Voortrekker Road.
• Stoffberg Avenue: Was originally Rhodes Avenue. The name was changed when Hoër Meisieskool Stoffberg took over from Rhodes Junior School. It was named after Senator Stoffberg.
Street names which seem to be connected with royalty:
• Victoria Avenue: Probably honours Queen Victoria.
• Kingsway Avenue: Probably named after Kingsway in London (opened by King Edward).
• Queen Avenue: If a street is named for the King, why not also remember the Queen?
• York Street: The Duke of York.
• Regent Street: Someone who acts for the King.
Names which appear to be connected with British historical figures:
• Milner Avenue: Viscount Lord Alfred Milner, Governor and High Commissioner of South Africa, the man who advised the British Government that only a war (Anglo-Boer War) could solve the problems in this country.
• Selbourne Avenue: Lord Selbourne, who succeeded Milner in 1905.
• Grey Avenue: Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape from 1854 to 1868.
• Frere Avenue: Sir Henry Bartle-Frere, Governor and High Commissioner of the Cape from 1877 to 1880.
• Gladstone Avenue: Viscount Herbert Gladstone, appointed as the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
• Gordon Street: General Charles Gordon was Commandant-General of the British forces in South Africa in 1882.
Names more directly connected with South Africa:
• Escombe Avenue: Harry Escombe, a lawyer who was active in politics.
• Gardiner Avenue: Frederich Gardiner, a judge in Natal (1907) and the first Attorney-General of the Cape (1910).
• Currey Street: Takes its name from the surveyor who laid out the town.
• Hoy Avenue: Sir William Hoy, a city councillor of Johannesburg and general manager of the South African Railways in 1909.
• Jones Avenue: Wiliam Jones, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town in 1897.
• Hamilton Avenue: Lt-Gen Ian Hamilton, who played an active role during the Anglo-Boer War.
• Muir Avenue: Sir Thomas Muir, superintendent-general of education in the Cape from 1905 to 1915.
• Porter Avenue: Charles Porter, medical officer of health in Johannesburg in 1901.
• Madeley Street: Walter Madeley, labour member of Parliament for Benoni at the time Brakpan was being planned.
A name which appears to be incorrectly spelt:
• Kitzinger Avenue: No record can be found of anybody named Kitzinger in South African history. It does, however, appear on Currey’s map. It is felt that the name was meant to be Kitchener Avenue, after Lord Kitchener of Anglo-Boer War fame.
Parks and sports fields:
• Tweedy Park: This was originally the Wanderers Sports Grounds. When rugby, soccer and cricket were moved to Hosking Park in 1931, the name was changed to Tweedy Park in honour of Clr Tweedy, who lived opposite the park. It is now the Tweedy Park Old Age Home/Frank Mynhardt Care Centre.
• Garden of Remembrance: Is in Hosking Park and contains the local cenotaph, which today lies in ruins.
• Hosking Park: Was so named for Mr Hosking, who was town clerk for so many years in Brakpan.
• Bosman Stadium: Mr Bosman was the chairperson of the rugby club and also president of the Eastern Transvaal RFU. He was parks curator for many years.
• Chaarl Baard Stadium: Named after the parks curator at the time it was established.
Information obtained from The Brakpan Story by Selby Webster.
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