Florida is a location in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

province,

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 16 kilometres west of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. The area which is referred to as Florida was originally established as the farm ''Vogelstruisfontein''. Today, it is a suburb of

Roodepoort Roodepoort ( ) is a city in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg ...

History

''Vogelstruisfontein'' and the farms ''Roodepoort'' and ''Paardekraal'' were established as mining camps after the discovery of gold in 1881. The suburb was laid out in 1889 and then proclaimed the following year on 14 April 1890 and by 1904 became a suburb of

. It was either named after Florida, USA or the suburb's originator Hendrik van Hoven whose late niece was called Florrie.

Geography

Communities

Although Florida was declared as a white area during

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, more than half of Florida's residents today are

coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

. This is mainly because it is in close proximity to the coloured townships of

Bosmont Bosmont is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Bosmont is located in Region 4. Bosmont is located in the West Rand of Johannesburg and nearly all of its residents are Coloured. History It was during the sixties that people of colour were fo ...

, Coronationville, Newclare, Westbury and Riverlea. Florida Lake is a large area of water south of the railway line. It is flanked by residential properties to the north, and parklands to the east and west. The main road through Florida, Goldman Street, forms the spine for local business activity and civic services. The local library is one of the best facilities of its kind in the Greater Johannesburg region. The western end of Goldman street is home to a number of antique dealers specialising in Afrikana furniture.

Economy

Retail

Flora Centre is located in

Florida Hills Florida Hills is a suburb of Roodepoort in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It lies to the north-west of Johannesburg and north of Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality ...

and is Florida’s largest and most popular shopping centre.

Sports

The local sports field at Trezona Park is the home to Florida Albion Football Club as well as having facilities for hockey, cricket, tennis and squash.

Education

It is served by Arthur Matthews Primary School, Florida Primary School, Florida Park High School, Afrikaans language Hoërskool Florida and Laerskool Florida as well as private schools such as Victory House Private School and Royal King's School. It is also served by Saint Catherine's Convent: a private all-girls

Catholic School Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

. It also is home to a number of pre-schools; most notably, Barbara's Pre-Play School, which was established in 1984.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The railway station is on the Springs to

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier Sir Joseph Robinson, 1st Baronet, JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in ...

line with easy access to

. There is a taxi rank around the area of the springs.

References

Johannesburg Region C {{Johannesburg-stub