Glencoe, South Africa
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Glencoe is situated in the Umzinyathi District District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The main economic activity in the area is coal mining while sheep and cattle ranching are also practiced.
History
With coal discovered at Dundee not even 8 km away a efficient way was needed to transport the coal to the factories other than ox wagons. 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 Argyleshire, Scotland when it became a town in 1934.
Trivia
- General French was periodically stationed here during the Anglo-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 found nearby.