The entrance to the ruined St Peter's Church in South End.The St Peter's Anglican Church in South End, Port Elizabeth was completed in 1877. Situated on the hill overlooking Algoa Bay, it was one of the important places of worship in early Port Elizabeth. Before the height of the Apartheid era the area of South End was a vibrant area inhabited by people from all races. When the Group Areas Act came into being in 1962, non-white people all over…
The Masjied-ul-Aziz Mosque, better known as the Pier Street Mosque sits on a strip of land on the left hand side at the end of the Settlers Freeway. The mosque is one of the only buildings that were left standing when the rest of South End was demolished in the late 1960's / early 1970's. It was so close or this Port Elizabeth landmark also fell under the wheels of the bulldozers. The municipality of the day wanted to construct…
This week 20 years ago, then president FW de Klerk made the speech in which he announced the planned unbanning of parties like the African National Congress (ANC) as well as the intended release of Nelson Mandela from prison. By chance a bit earlier in the week I discovered a paved path in South End fairly close to where I work. It was built by a local family who formed their business here in Port Elizabeth 100 years ago and…
In the old days South End was a vibrant multi cultural area, but in the 1960's everybody was forcible removed from the area because of the Groups Areas Act and relocated to other areas in Port Elizabeth. The majority of the buildings in South End was demolished and the area laid empty for about twenty years. In the 1980's they started developing the area again and since Democracy in 1994 some of the people have even moved back into the…
The South End Museum on the corner of Beach Road and Walmer Boulevard is housed in the old Seamans Institute Building and remembers people and places of South End. South End was destroyed by the Apartheid Government after its people were displaced in 1965 following the implementation of the Groups Areas Act.On the floor of the one exhibition hall visitors will find a map of old South End laid out on the floor with pictures of the area along the…
Part of the ruins of St Peter's Church in South End. Built in 1877, the church was partly demolished by the apartheid government to prevent members of the congregation to return after the community was forcibly removed in 1965. For more info and pictures, visit The Firefly Photo Files. Why not pop over to Skywatch to see some more photos from all over the world.
We have received some fascinating photos of old postcards from John, an ex PE resident who now lives in UK. Here is a view of the Baakens Valley taken from Fort Frederick on Friday ... and here is how it looked around the turn of the century....The buildings up on the hill are all new, as the racially integrated South End was demolished by the Apartheid Government in the late 60s. If you want to read more, click on the…
We have posted about South End before, it is one of the areas that were cleared out during the Apartheid era, because of the racialy mixed community, and this church was later demolished because the congregation kept returning here to worship. It remains as a necessary reminder of a shameful part of our history that will hopefully never be repeated!