Bethulie is a small

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

farming town 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. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is located about 100 km/62 miles away from Springfontein. The name meaning ''chosen by God'' was given by directors of a mission station in 1829 which the town formed around. The mission building is the oldest settler built building still standing in the Free State. The town was also home to one of the largest

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

run by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. The

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

was built in 1862.

History

Evidence of life was found to be dated to 250 million years ago in the form of fossils. The first land dwellers to be active in the Bethulie region were the

Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the Indigenous peoples of Africa, oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged fro ...

, whose various drawings are still in existence in the area. In 1828 a mission station was established by the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

for the local people, the San Bushman. It was originally known as Groot Moordenaarspoort (Murderer's Pass) after a vicious clash between the Sotho and Griqua tribes. In 1832 the missionary Jean Pierre Pellissier, whose home is one of the oldest pioneer buildings north of the Orange River, replaced the London missionaries. It now houses a historical museum displaying items of the past and information on the life and trial of Jean Pellissier and Chief Lephoi and his people. Until 1833 Bethulie was known as Caledon (after the nearby Caledon River). This name was in conflict with a Western Cape town bearing the same name. Then in 1833 a French Missionary Society, the " Paris Evangelical Missionary Society" took over control of the area and renamed the mission station Bethulua, meaning "Place of Worship". In 1835 it was renamed Verheullpolis and in 1863 the town was established and renamed Heidelberg. In 1872 the town was again renamed to Bethulie. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899 to 1902) the third largest concentration camp erected by the British was also situated in Bethulie.

Timeline

* 1777: R.J. Gordon reached the Groot river approximately 10 kilometers from the current Bethulie; he named the river the Oranje river. Mr. Gordon also noted in his drawings of the veldt and his surroundings that he noticed 6

. * 1803: Governor J.W. Janssens traveled to the current location of Bethulie. * 1809: Colonel R. Collins reached the convergence of both the Caledon and Oranje rivers, he is also credited for the Caledon River's name. * 1823: G.P.N. Coetsee noted that during his travels in the area he only noticed

and no other settlements nor indigenous people. * 1828–1833: Missionary work within the Bushman community was undertaken by J. Clark and G.A. Kolbe. * 1833–1867: Missionary work within the Tihaping community was undertaken by J.P. Pellissier. * 1860–1863: During 1860 farmers bought 6,000 morgen (A morgen was a unit of measurement of land in Germany, the Netherlands and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa) from the Tlhaping to be officially proclaimed a town with the name of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

The D.H. Steyn Bridge or Hennie Steyn Bridge is an arched bridge near the town of Bethulie, it is a combined road and rail bridge which spans the Orange River just outside Bethulie. It is 1,152 m (1,260 yds) long, and 51.5m high and thereby the longest bridge in South Africa. It is also claimed to be the longest in the southern hemisphere. Work started 1899 and completed 1901.

Notable people

Bethulie's most famous son was Patrick Mynhardt, whose one-man shows featuring Herman Charles Bosman's character Oom Schalk Lourens were popular in South Africa. His autobiographical show Boy from Bethulie formed the basis for a book of the same name.

References

{{Xhariep District Municipality Populated places in the Kopanong Local Municipality Second Boer War concentration camps Populated places established in 1863 1863 establishments in the Orange Free State