Riversdale ( af, Riversdal) is a town located on the N2 highway between

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

on the Agulhas Coastal Plain of the southern

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province of

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 an agricultural service oriented town, being a hub for shopping and other services for surrounding farming communities, smaller towns, and coastal resorts, like

Witsand Witsand is a small coastal town situated at the mouth of the Breede River in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is a good fishing area and is widely considered to be the whale nursery of the South African coastline. Witsand has seen some of the lar ...

and

Stilbaai Stilbaai, also known as the ''Bay of Sleeping Beauty'', is a town along the southern coast of South Africa about four hours by car from Cape Town. It is part of the Hessequa Local Municipality in the Western Cape province. Alternate spellings of t ...

. It is located beneath the imposing

Langeberg The Langeberg Range is a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its highest peak is Keeromsberg at 2,075 m that lies 15 km northeast of the town of Worcester. Some of the highest peaks of the range are located just to ...

Mountains to the north, with Sleeping Beauty Mountain overlooking the town.

History

The town was founded as a church on the farm, Doornkraal, and was subsequently named after

Harry Rivers Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, the then incumbent Civil Commissioner of

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...

. It was proclaimed a town on 30 August 1838. Riverdale is the seat of the

Hessequa Local Municipality Hessequa Local Municipality ( af, Hessequa Munisipaliteit, before 24 June 2005 the Langeberg Local Municipality) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is flanked by the lower Breede River to the west and the Gou ...

. It is also sometimes considered the westernmost point in the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant an ...

region.

Notable residents

Willem Botha Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...

, singer *

Dyan Buis Dyan Neille Buis (born 30 November 1990 in Riversdale, Western Cape) is a South African Paralympic sprint runner and long jumper. He has mild cerebral palsy and competes in the T38 class. In 2012, Buis was a student at Global University G ...

, Paralympic athlete *

Dalene Matthee Dalene Matthee (13 October 1938 – 20 February 2005) was a South African author best known for her four "Forest Novels", written in and around the Knysna Forest. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages, including English, Fren ...

(13 October 1938 – 20 February 2005), writer who matriculated here at Hoërskool Langenhoven * Dr

Cecil Moss Cecil Moss (12 February 1925 – 27 October 2017) was a South African rugby union player, coach and a professional physician. He was also a qualified medical doctor (anaesthetist) and was part of the medical team who removed the heart from the f ...

, Springbok rugby player and coach *

Jack Simons John "Jack" Joseph Simons (also widely known and referred to as J. J. Simons and J. J. "Boss" Simons (12 August 1882 – 24 October 1948) was an Australian businessman and politician, best known for establishing the Young Australia League. Ear ...

, academic and anti-apartheid activist * Jan Ernst Abraham Volschenk (20 August 1853 Riversdale – 22 January 1936 Riversdale), painter noted for his majestic landscapes of the Langeberg Range in the Western Cape Province * Vera Volschenk (1899-1987), painter born in 1899; eldest of nine daughters of Jan Ernst Abraham Volschenk

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Hessequa Local Municipality Populated places established in 1838 1838 establishments in the Cape Colony

History

Notable residents

See also

References