3-066-028 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Street improvements at Port Elizabeth, South Africa: the old and the new, 1881. 'Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay,...is the chief maritime outlet of trade for the Eastern Districts of the Cape Colony, and of the Orange River Free State, which is an independent Dutch Republic...The amount of its trade and shipping places it far above any other port in the Cape Colony for the value of its imports and exports. The population of the town is nearly 20,000, and our two contrasted street views show the progress of building improvements. The upper Illustration gives an idea of the old style of houses, which have lately been replaced by the fine warehouses represented in the lower part of the Engraving. The aspect of this new building speaks well for the abilities of the colonial architect, Mr. John Dix Peek, who designed it. The ground upon which it stands has a frontage of 77 ft., and was sold by auction for £10,100, which price was much commented upon in colonial papers at the time, being the highest figure ever paid for land in Port Elizabeth or in any other town in the Cape Colony to become a site for buildings. These premises were built for Messrs. Atkinson and Smith, colonial merchants'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.