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ALBERTON.CO.ZA

The Soul of The South

www.alberton.co.za info@alberton.co.za

History of Alberton

Provided and Copyrighted by Alberton.co.za Alberton is a town based on the South Rand of Johannesburg in South Africa. It celebrated its centenary year in 2005. The town is located on the banks of the Natalspruit which runs through Alberton. At the age of 13, a young boy named Johannes Petrus Meyer bought 11 hectare of his fathers farm, Elandsfontein from his stepfather. He built a house next to the Alberton stream or Natalspruit, close to where the civic centre stands today. After Jan's marriage to his first wife, Christina Salomina he became a rapport cyclist and travelled quite a bit. Jan's wife passed away in 1870 with the birth of their fourth daughter, where he decided to start a general store. He started this general store on the Klipriviersberg farm and got married again two years later to Stephina Petronella Botha (born Strydom). Jan built his mansion (still standing today) in 1890 and this mansion was never destroyed and was miraciously left untouched during the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) and can still be seen today from the bypassing N12 freeway.

Jan's brother Johan Georg (Org) Meyer took over the farm after Jan's death. He married Johanna Elizabeth Jacoba (born du Preez). General Alberts, a veteran from the war, purchased a part of the farm Elandsfontein from Org and his plan was to split it up into erven and sell it. During the time when General Alberts wanted to give the new town a name, the Meyer mother had something to say against it. As the Meyer family originally came from Prins Albert in the Cape colony, General Alberts decided on the name Alberton and the primary school Generaal Alberts as well as Hennie Alberts Avenue in the suburb of Brackenhurst is named after the town founder. Germiston also rised during this period on a piece of Elandsfontein.

The first family to settle was the Van der Merwe family in 1903. “Tannie Let” as she was...