Fouriesburg is a small town situated at the junction of the R711 and R26 routes in the eastern Free State,

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 near the

Maluti Mountains The Maloti Mountains are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the South African Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large area ...

and only 10 km from Caledon's Poort border post, which gives access to

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

History

During the late nineteenth century, this land was donated to the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

by a local farmer of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descent, Christoffel Fourie, for use as a temporary capital during the

Second 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 and ...

. It was the site of several engagements during the Boer War, and by 1902 the original settlement had been almost completely destroyed.

Vicinity

A small private resort, Meiringskloof Nature Park, is located in a valley just northeast of town. Fouriesburg is about half an hour's drive from Clarens, a popular tourist destination, and a 45-minute drive from

Golden Gate Highlands National Park Golden Gate Highlands National Park is located in Free State (South African province), Free State, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. It covers an area of . The park's most notable features are its golden, ochre, and orange-hued, deeply eros ...

. It is about fifty kilometres south-east of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, and some fifty-three from

Ficksburg Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and ...

. Fouriesburg ranked first during South Africa's 2013 ''Kwela Town of the Year'' competition.

Union house

Originally built in the 1870s, Union House was destroyed by fire during the Second Boer War. President Brand of the Free State planted two oak trees in the front yard to represent the union of Afrikaans and English residents in observance of the peace between the Boer and British. This farm hosted the Free State celebration of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

References

Populated places in the Dihlabeng Local Municipality Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places established in 1892 {{FreeState-geo-stub