Alicedale

Alicedale is a small settlement in Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the banks of the Bushmans River.

Alicedale
Alicedale Old Railway Station
Alicedale Show map of Eastern Cape Alicedale Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 33°19′S 26°5′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Sarah Baartman
Municipality	Makana
Area [1]
• Total	4.7 km^2 (1.8 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	3,872
• Density	820/km^2 (2,100/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	57.1%
• Coloured	40.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	1.2%
• Other	0.5%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	51.9%
• Afrikaans	43.7%
• English	2.2%
• Other	2.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	6135
PO box	6135
Area code	042

Railway History

Alicedale is a railway junction on the main railway line between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. From here a branch line leads to Grahamstown. The town was a railway training facility during the previous two centuries, from there the historical red facebrick building that now houses the reception of the resort hotel. The town was named for Mrs. Alice Slessor,[lower-alpha 1] the wife of the engineer in charge of construction of the railways.[3]

Buildings of interest

• Bushmans River Sands Hotel in Alicedale has an 18-hole golf course.
• St Barnabas Anglican Church was dedicated in 1887 and regular Anglican worship still takes place in the church.[4]

The nearest neighbouring towns are Riebeek East and Paterson, while Grahamstown lies 45 kilometres (28 mi) to the east.

Notes and references

1. A number of sources including Raper assert that Alice Slessor's maiden name was Dale. This is incorrect, the record of their marriage at St John's Church in the Parish of Paddington, on 10 September 1867[2] clearly indicates that Alice's name was Malton and that she was a spinster at the time of her marriage.

1. Sum of the Main Places Alicedale and KwaNonzwakazi from Census 2011.
2. "Frederick Slessor and Alice Malton". England & Wales marriages 1837-2008 Transcription. 1867. Retrieved 8 October 2014 – via Findmypast.
3. Raper, P. E. (1989). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-947464-04-2 – via Internet Archive.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
4. "St Barnabas's Church - Alicedale". albanyanglicans.org. Retrieved 29 March 2015.