Koppies is a small town (railway station) situated near the Renoster River in the Free State province of

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

Geography

The town is situated 63 km north-east of

Kroonstad Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used ...

, 48 km west of

Heilbron Heilbron is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and stock feeds. It also se ...

and 42 km south-south-east of

Parys Parys (pronounced ) is a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province of South Africa. The name of the town is the Afrikaans translation of Paris. The name was given by a German surveyor named Schilbach who had partic ...

. It was laid out as a township in 1910 and became a municipality in 1926. Formerly Kopjes, meaning 'hills', the name is derived from that of the farm on which it was laid out, Honingkopjes, Dutch for 'honey hills'.

History

General De Wet donated his Farm "Rooipoort" to be set up for under-privileged whites in the form of a few morgen irrigation land, and then a few morgen "dry" land for cultivating maize, etc. By the time the people got out of the war they were very poor, and were supplied with a few eggs and a paraffin lamp/hatcher for the eggs. By demand/pressure of General De Wet, the

Koppies Dam Koppies Dam is a combined gravity and arch type dam located on the Renoster River, near Koppies, Free State (South African province), Free State, South Africa. It was established in 1911 and its primary purpose is to serve for irrigation and dome ...

was constructed to supply water for irrigation, and work to the local people who needed it badly. During the 1960s, the wall of the dam was raised to where it is today.

References

Populated places in the Ngwathe Local Municipality Populated places established in 1904 {{FreeState-geo-stub