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Barberton
The town of Barberton is situated in the De Kaap Valley in Mpumalanga. It was founded in the 1880s when the promise of gold lured treasure hunters from all over the world. Graham Barber was one of these prospectors, as were his cousins Fred and Henry Barber.
In 1884, they found what they called Barber’s Reef, a reef so rich in gold that it sparkled in the sun. This was the beginning of the Barberton gold rush. On June 24 1884, the mining commissioner broke a bottle of gin over a rock to christen the town.
Barberton rapidly grew in size, and quickly gained a reputation for being a tough and dangerous place. Gunfights, drinking and brawling were commonplace, and gambling was the most popular pastime after a hard day’s work. By the end of 1885, Barberton had a population of 8 000, and, by the end of 1886, it had two stock exchanges and more than 200 bars.
Barberton was filled with colourful characters. One of the best known was a barmaid and singer called Cockney Liz, who came to the town from England to find her fiancé, only to discover he had cheated on his partner and had been shot and killed. Cockney Liz decided to stay in Barberton and got a job as a singer and dancer at the Red Light Canteen, where she was popular with the miners. Every night, she would parade along a pool table snapping her garters, auctioning herself off to the highest bidder for a dance.
By 1888, the area was overmined and the gold rush on the Witwatersrand drew the prospectors away. Barberton became a ghost town and many years passed before it flourished again. Today, it is a quiet, idyllic town popular with tourists.
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