ROSENDAL'S HISTORY

Rosendal’s heritage history

A Church, a Blacksmiths shop, a Post Office, a Bank, a Saloon and a General Dealer store—these are the first things you see for a settlement in an American cowboy movie and the early history of South Africa’s rural towns was not much different; this is how Rosendal came into being when founded in 1908. Like nearly all towns in the Free State, it is approximately 45km from either Ficksburg or Senekal, the distance that could be ridden in a day on horseback.

Rosendal’s Heritage District celebrates what was the downtown in the early days of a dusty Free State farming settlement. It is now fully restored and includes three guest houses—The Bank, The Post Office and The Blacksmiths—as well as The Service Station Wine Bar and the Ark Contemporary art gallery, located in an old General Dealer store. All these buildings have a unique history that has been uncovered and celebrated through restoration and research.

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From frontier settlement to ghost town and back again

A much remarked on feature of Rosendal is its unique low density character—there are long distances between houses and it is not obvious where the town begins and ends. This has its origins in Rosendal’s unique history as an unfinished town. When it was founded, a grid pattern of streets were laid out for what was intended to be a small city. Located in an isolated area, up against the Witteberg Mountain range that runs north to south, Rosendal did not fulfil this early promise. The opening of a paved road to Senekal and Ficksburg in the early 1960s diverted retail spending away and with the closure of the Afrikaans language school in the 1980s, Rosendal entered prolonged commercial decline. By the mid 1990s it had acquired the features of a ghost town, with many abandoned buildings.

This began to reverse from the late 1990s when a group of writers, artists and adventurers began to call it home. It remains at heart, a Free State farming town where livestock wander and sotho cowboys on horseback herd cattle down the main street. Residents know each other and get along, doors are not locked, social obligations are met and crime is low. Visitors can walk or hike and children play in the street safely. A non-commercial retail character is fostered, underpinned by artisanal production and creative arts.

Today the dispersed, spread out, nature of the town is a positive feature accounting for the sensation of being in the countryside when in the middle of town. Even when “full”—there is accommodation for nearly 200 people, more than all permanent residents—the town can look empty. A visitor can stay at home in a guest house and not see a soul, or venture out to one of the restaurants, cafes or galleries spread out in various corners of town and mix with friendly locals. It is, quite literally, the perfect place to do nothing.