Florida is a location in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It is located about 16 kilometres west of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. The area which is referred to as Florida was originally established as the farm ''Vogelstruisfontein''. Today, it is a suburb of

Roodepoort Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical g ...

History

''Vogelstruisfontein'' and the farms ''Roodepoort'' and ''Paardekraal'' were established as mining camps after the discovery of gold in 1881. The suburb was laid out in 1889 and then proclaimed the following year on 14 April 1890 and by 1904 became a suburb of

. It was either named after Florida, USA or the suburb's originator Hendrik van Hoven whose late niece was called Florrie.

Geography

Communities

Although Florida was declared as a white area during

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, more than half of Florida's residents today are

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

. This is mainly because it is in close proximity to the coloured townships of

Bosmont Bosmont is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Bosmont is located in Region 4. Bosmont is located in the West Rand of Johannesburg and nearly all of its residents are Coloured. History It was during the sixties that people of colour were ...

, Coronationville, Newclare, Westbury and Riverlea. Florida Lake is a large area of water south of the railway line. It is flanked by residential properties to the north, and parklands to the east and west. The main road through Florida, Goldman Street, forms the spine for local business activity and civic services. The local library is one of the best facilities of its kind in Johannesburg. The western end of Goldman street is home to a number of antique dealers specialising in Afrikana furniture.

Economy

Retail

Flora Centre is located in

Florida Hills Florida Hills is a suburb of Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It lies to the northwest of downtown Johannesburg and north of Soweto. It is a suburb of Roodepoort Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. For ...

and is Florida’s largest and most popular shopping centre.

Sports

The local sports field at Trezona Park is the home to Florida Albion Football Club as well as having facilities for hockey, cricket, tennis and squash.

Education

It is served by Arthur Matthews Primary School, Florida Primary School, Florida Park High School, Afrikaans language Hoërskool Florida and Laerskool Florida as well as private schools such as Victory House Private School and Royal King's School. It is also served by Saint Catherine's Convent: a private all-girls

Catholic School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

. It also is home to a number of pre-schools; most notably, Barbara's Pre-Play School, which was established in 1984.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The railway station is on the Springs to

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Est ...

line with easy access to

. There is a taxi rank around the area of the springs.

References

Johannesburg Region C {{Johannesburg-stub