Parkhurst is a small, dense northern suburb 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 Dem ...

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 ...

, of about 2000 households and 4000 residents. Forming part of the northern suburbs, Parkhurst is roughly bounded by Parktown North to the east, the

Braamfontein Spruit The Braamfontein Spruit (from the Afrikaans for "spring of brambles") is the longest stream in Johannesburg, South Africa. It originates in Barnato Park High School, Braamfontein. It is covered and canalised near its source, but once the river run ...

to the west,

Craighall Craighall is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa and is bordered by Hyde Park, Dunkeld and Parkhurst. It sits in between the busy arterial routes of Jan Smuts Avenue and William Nicol highway and is located in Region B of the City of Johann ...

to the north, and Greenside to the south. Although it is mainly residential, there are two main commercial roads - 4th Avenue which has the restaurants, cafes and décor, design, antique and service shops; and 6th Street which is quickly becoming converted into a design, décor, art and small business area. Parkhurst is one of the city's most

walkable Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...

districts and popular with residents for its street life and

sidewalk cafe The SideWalk Cafe was a music venue and restaurant/cafe in East Village, New York City founded in 1985. It became a known venue for its underground music scene, and in particular, was known as being the center for Anti-folk in the United State ...

s, with an atmosphere similar to Greenside and Melville.

History

Parkhurst was founded in 1904 by the African Realty Trust, founded by American born developer, I.W. Schlesinger, who developed Braamfontein farm into 2200 stands. As Parkhurst formed the far northern corner of the farm on the city's edge, Schlesinger decided to have a naming competition as a publicity stunt to bring attention to the area, which lagged behind more desirable areas like

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Park ...

at the time. The competition turned out to the very successful attracting the attention of

Lord Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From ...

and by 1906, the suburb became well known throughout the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

as an emerging and desirable area. About a third of the suburb was developed by the 1930s and it was completely developed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, with most housing dating from this era . The

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

of the area started in the 1960s when the older houses in the southern section started to be renovated. This process continues to this day with many properties being re-modelled and renovated several times over. There is an active residents' association, the Parkhurst Residents and Business Owners Association (PRABOA), who try to preserve the suburb's village-like atmosphere. Although erroneously included by Google Maps as part of Randburg

Parkhurst has never been part of that area.

Amenities

Parkhurst is probably best known for its main commercial corridor along 4th Avenue. It is a popular tourist and weekend location for residents across Johannesburg. The Jolly Roger and Espresso are two of the streets long standing establishments. More recent successful restaurants to the street include Hudsons Burgers, Nice, and Modena. 4th Avenue (bordering Parkhurst Community Church) has become a small business hub with numerous small businesses opening on the street, lik
Dry Dock Boutique Liquor
Nonna's Gift Shop, Tshirt Terrorist an
Parooz
Other businesses have opened to encourage entrepreneurship in the area as well. Bloom is a coffee shop that provides a space for entrepreneurs to work and teaches its baristas how to start their own business. Yoco is another such business as they provided payments facilities to small businesses. Verity Park is a Parkhurst attraction. The park was originally the home of the Parkhurst Soccer Club, however, the club moved in the 1970s. Adjacent to the park is the Parkhurst Petanque Club, where social games are played at weekends. Verity Park is also known as a dog haven and draws many residents wishing to walk their dogs.

Community

Despite its small size, Parkhurst is considered one of Johannesburg's more desirable suburbs. In 2010, it was ranked number 1 in Johannesburg by the

Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...

, citing its proximity to quality schools, dining, nightlife, shopping, location, green space, safety, and creative capital, among other aspects. Being one of the older suburbs in northern Joburg, Parkhurst also feature many historic residences with architecture including,

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

and Cape Dutch.

References

External links

Parkhurst Village Residents Association
{{City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, selected=regb Johannesburg Region B Tourist attractions in Johannesburg