Glencoe, KwaZulu-Natal

28°11′00″S 30°09′00″E / 28.18333°S 30.15000°E / -28.18333; 30.15000CountrySouth AfricaProvinceKwaZulu-NatalDistrictUmzinyathiMunicipalityEndumeniArea • Total26.58 km² (10.26 sq mi)Population • Total17,548 • Density660/km² (1,700/sq mi)Racial makeup (2011) • Black African83.0% • Coloured1.0% • Indian/Asian6.9% • White8.9% • Other0.2%First languages (2011) • Zulu76.6% • English11.9% • Afrikaans8.5% • Other3.0%Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)Postal code (street)PO boxArea code034

Glencoe is situated in the Umzinyathi District, District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The main economic activity in the area is coal mining along with sheep and cattle ranching.

History

With coal discovered 8 km away from Dundee, an efficient way was needed to transport coal to factories other than by ox wagon. The railway from Durban to Johannesburg reached this point on 4 September 1889. A new village sprung up where a branch line was built from the Durban-Johannesburg line to the eastern Transvaal in 1903. The village was renamed Glencoe, after a mountain valley in Lochaber, Scotland, it became a town in 1934.

Trivia

• General French was periodically stationed here during the Second Boer War.
• Boer President Paul Kruger twice stayed overnight during the Siege of Ladysmith, South Africa.
• The house of Carl Landman - second in command at the Battle of Blood River can be found on a farm close to Glencoe.
• Fort Mistake, a fort designed as a communications link between Ladysmith and Newcastle in 1881 and playing a key role in the Anglo-Boer War is nearby.

References