Adelaide, Eastern Cape


Adelaide is a rural town and area in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Adelaide is situated near the Great Winterberg Mountain range.

History

Before European arrival

The modern day area of Adelaide was first inhabited by Bushmen, but in the late 18th and 19th century the Xhosa and white settlers arrived. The Bushmen were displaced and are no longer found in the area.

Colonial Adelaide

Adelaide's origins date back to 1835 when a British officer named Captain Alexander Boswell Armstrong established a military encampment which he named Fort Adelaide after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of King William IV. Despite the earlier English settlers, who were part of the 1820 Settlers, later on a large number of both Scottish and Afrikaans people soon immigrated here too. The Scottish were also the first to erect a church in the local area.

Modern day Adelaide

Adelaide is an important centre of wool and sheep farming. Beef, mutton, venison and citrus fruit are also important products. The specialised abattoir for venison operating from central town provides much needed employment to the local residents.
About 2,300 of the San-Bushmen's far-away descendants, the Westernised Coloureds, reside in the Bezuidenhoutville township 3 km from central town, and represent 19% of Adelaide's inhabitants. Lingelethu is the largest Black African township in Adelaide, with a census exceeding 6,000 and a population share of 77% of the municipal area.