Little Falls hillside sign turns 100
The sign was built above the already popular swimming resort of Little Falls, on the site of the Geldenhuys, and later the Struben homestead
Many residents and travellers in the Struben’s Valley and Little Falls area are familiar with the white rocks against the hill that spell out the suburb’s name.
According to Rod Kruger, Kloofendal historian, this sign will be turning 100 this year.
“There is no document to give an exact date, but the sign against the hill at Little Falls was built in the 1920s in accordance with the fashion of the time, to display signs to the new fangled flying machines that were becoming popular after World War I.
The sign was built above the already popular swimming resort of Little Falls, on the site of the Geldenhuys, and later the Struben homestead,” he explained.
He added that after the Struben brothers, Fred and Harry, discovered gold near Little Falls, the word spread and the following year, in 1886, George Harrison discovered the main reef at Langlaagte.
“As the mines grew, Little Falls firstly became a welcome bath after a hard day’s mining, and then a picnic resort. In the 1920s the area was developed into a flower farm, with the warm north slope of the Wits hills and plentiful water supply that never dried up.
The owners built a dam wall across the falls pool to make it a swimming pool, and built cabins alongside the kloof. Later the area would be sold to the Roodepoort Maraisburg Municipality and a fee was charged to enter the grounds. The area then passed into the hands of Johannesburg City Parks,” Rod said.
But, with the popularity of home swimming pools, Little Falls became almost forgotten and it is now in a sad state. In an attempt to maintain the unique heritage site, the Hadeco flower farm staff and often the Boy Scouts have been maintaining the Little Falls sign over the years. Rod said that another sign was built on the nearby hill overlooking Struben’s Valley, and said ‘Strubensvallei’.
“The stream at Struben’s Valley was dammed and became a second picnic area, but was never as popular as Little Falls. The dam was bulldozed in the 1950s to make way for a tar road through the Kloof, which is known today as Christaan de Wet Road (Allen’s Nek Pass). Townhouse developers illegally destroyed the Strubensvallei sign in the 1980s.”
