Excelsior is a small 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 was formed by farmers in 1910 who wanted a town which was closer to them than

Winburg Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and along with Griekwastad, is one of the oldest settlements in South Africa loc ...

and

Ladybrand Ladybrand is a small agricultural town in the Free State province of South Africa, situated 18 km from Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. Ladybrand is one of five towns that forms the Mantsopa Local Municipality. Founded in 1867 following th ...

. The farmers had to decide on which farm the town will be established. The two farms were Sunshine and ''Excelsior'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

), which, translated to English means "Higher Up", or in Afrikaans "''Hoër Op''". The farm Excelsior was chosen due to its higher location. The first church was erected in the vicinity of where the Farmers Co-op is situated today. Excelsior was a newsworthy town in the late 1960s and early 1970s for 19 people contravening the Immorality Act under Apartheid Legislation (Also known as the Excelsior 19). A better understanding on what happened between white males and black females can be read in the book ''The Madonna of Excelsior'' by South African-born author,

Zakes Mda Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni "Zakes" Mda () (born 1948) is a South African novelist, poet and playwright. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He is the son of politician A. P. Mda. Early life and ...

. The secondary asphalt roads were built in 1980 to 1984, and this helped not travelling on the gravel roads to Bloemfontein via Verkeerdevlei. Many accidents and deaths on the roads close to town occurred before the roads were upgraded. Water to the town is supplied via boreholes, filled with good levels of fluoride and stored in sandstone reservoirs up at the "neck" on the road to

. Today, a weather station is based in this small town, and very accurate readings help farmers plan for agricultural purposes.

References

* {{Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality Populated places in the Mantsopa Local Municipality Populated places established in 1910