Warden is a town situated in the Free State 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 ...

on the N3 highway between

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 Demo ...

and

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. The town is 56 km north of

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, abo ...

and south-south-east of Villiers. It was laid out on the farm Rietvlei in 1912, proclaimed in 1913, and attained municipal status in 1920. It is said to be named after Charles Frederick Warden,

landdrost {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2020 ''Landdrost'' was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with ''land'' meaning "region" and ...

from 1884 to 1900. Warden and Dirkie Uys School celebrated their centenary during September 2013. The town has one of the largest

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 original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

es in South Africa, with seating for 1,750. After the African National Congress came into power in 1994, the town's infrastructure deteriorated. Most roads are now unpaved and most public buildings have been in decline. A young group of residents took part in restoring Warden. A new main road and several buildings has since been built or upgraded. One of the biggest municipal dams is also being built. Warden's locality (in the middle of SA and on the N3 highway connecting Gauteng and Durban), water supply, industrial land and labour makes it an ideal place for industrial development. Houses in Warden are reasonably priced. Industrial and residential land are also available. The farming area around Warden produces a big part of the country's potatoes, maize and red meat.

References

Populated places in the Phumelela Local Municipality Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places established in 1912 1912 establishments in South Africa {{FreeState-geo-stub