Smithfield, Free State

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Smithfield is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was founded in 1848 after Sir Harry Smith, the Cape Colony governor, needed a town north of the Orange River. Second Boer War General Christiaan de Wet was born on the farm Leeukop near the town.

Smithfield is the third oldest village in Freestate. Places to visit are the Caledon river museum, the Carmel and Beersheba missionary posts. It is a village that is experiencing something of a revival, with more and more houses being renovated and a renewed interest in the place seems to evolve.

Peaceful, splendidly vast, unpolluted countryside abounds around historic Smithfield, tucked neatly into a horseshoe of hills. Established in 1848 and named after Sir Harry Smith, then Governor of the Cape, Smithfield is the third oldest town in the Free State Province. Originally an important wool-growing area, in recent times its position astride major tourist routes, have lent impetus to its growing role in tourism. The many hills surrounding the town are ideal for hiking, walking horse-riding and birding in splendid isolation. You can ride for miles on local secondary roads ideal for mountain bikes. With no industry to pollute the environment and little distraction from town lights and the crystal clear night skies are stunningly beautiful. The local golf course dates back more than 100 years and is widely rated as an unusually attractive country course. Its facilities are open to our guests, as are local tennis and bowls clubs. (portions of text above adapted from the pula house web site at pula-house).

Kilometer upon kilometer of silvery savanna, a sprinkling of blesbok and the odd zebra. Prepare you for a change of pace as you fly off the main road to Colesberg and head towards the tiny town of Smithfield in the Free State. The town lies 132-km southeast of Bloemfontein on the national road to Port Elizabeth. Smithfield has a small population of approximately 4,500. It is a prosperous wool-growing district with a large number of cattle as well.

Smithfield is the third oldest town in the Free State. Waterval farm was the original site chosen for the township. However, when plots were offered for sale, there were no takers. Farmers were dissatisfied with the site (24 km west of present-day Smithfield). They preferred Rietpoort, where there was abundant water. The new town was named New Smithfield (the New soon fell away), after Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape at the time.

The Caledon River bound Smithfield on the east and south. The district is drained by various tributaries of the Caledon River, the Vinkel Spruit and Wilgeboom Spruit being the largest. As the town lies 13 km west of the Caledon River, water has to be obtained from boreholes around the town dam.

Archaeologically, the name Smithfield is well known because one of the most important Stone Age cultures was named after the town. George Stow, a renowned scientist, excavated a cave near Smithfield in 1877. He found tools from the Late Stone Age and described them in his book, "Native races of South Africa."

There are wonderful Bushmen paintings in the hills near the town. "Ou Grietjie,"a cannon used by the Free State in the Basuto wars, has been mounted in front of the magistrate's office. It was named after Margaret (Grietjie), wife of the gunner Robert Finlay.