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Location |
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Lydenburg is a town in Mpumalanga, South Africa and is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Olifants River at the base of the Long Tom Pass. |
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History |
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Lydenburg became important because it was on the wagon route to the port of Delagoa Bay (Maputo) which was free of British control. In 1871 construction of the road was started by Abraham Espag under the orders of President Thomas Francois Burgers. The first wagons arrived in Lydenburg from Delagoa Bay in 1874.
On 6 February 1873 alluvial gold was discovered and within 3 months the Lydenburg goldfields was proclaimed. The First Boer War broke out between Britain and the Transvaal Republic in 1880. A British garrison under Lieutenant Walter Hillyar Colquhoun Long (uncle of the 1st Viscount Long) took control of Lydenburg to control the goldfields. It was from here that the ill-fated 94th Regiment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther marched to Pretoria. The remainder of the garrison at Lydenburg was besieged.
By 1910 the railway reached Lydenburg. In 1927 it became a municipality.
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Climate |
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With an altitude of 1434, Lydenburg experiences a climate almost the same as the Mpumalanga middleveld with cold nights and warm days. |
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