Sea Point
Sea Point | |
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Suburb of Cape Town | |
Area code | 021 |
Sea Point (
History
Some of the first settlers in the area were the aristocratic Protestant Le Sueur family from Bayeux in Normandy. François Le Sueur arrived in 1739 as spiritual advisor to Cape Governor Hendrik Swellengrebel. The family's Cape estate, Winterslust, originally covered 200 acres on the slopes of Signal Hill. The estate was later named Fresnaye, and now forms part of the suburbs of Sea Point and Fresnaye.[2]
Sea Point got its name in 1767[3] when one of the commanders serving under Captain Cook, Sam Wallis, encamped his men in the area to avoid a smallpox epidemic in Cape Town at the time. It grew as a residential suburb in the early 1800s, and in 1839 was merged into a single municipality with neighbouring Green Point. The 1875 census indicated that Sea Point and Green Point jointly had a population of 1,425. By 1904 it stood at 8,839.[4]
With the 1862 opening of the Sea Point tramline, the area became Cape Town's first "commuter suburb", though the line linked initially to Camps Bay. At the turn of the century, the tramline was augmented by the Metropolitan and Suburban Railway Company, which added a line to the City Centre.[5]
During the 1800s, Sea Point's development was dominated by the influence of its most famous resident, the liberal parliamentarian and MP for Cape Town, Saul Solomon. Solomon was both the founder of the Cape Argus and the most influential liberal in the country—constantly fighting racial inequality in the Cape. His Round Church (St John's) of 1878 reflected his syncretic approach to religion—housing four different religions in its walls, which were rounded to avoid "denominational corners". "Solomon's Temple", as it was humorously known by residents, stood on its triangular traffic island at the intersection of Main, Regent, and Kloof roads, a centre of the Sea Point community, until it was destroyed by the city council in the 1930s.[6] The suburb was later classed by the Apartheid regime as a whites-only area, but this rapidly changed in the late 1990s with a rapid growth of Sea Point's black and coloured communities.
Ships entering the harbour in Table Bay from the east coast of Africa have to round the coast at Sea Point and over the years many of them have been wrecked on the reefs just off-shore. In May 1954, during a great storm, the Basuto Coast (246 tonnes) ended up on the rocks within a few metres of the concrete wall of the promenade.
The area was historically classed as a "whites only" area only during the
In the early 1970s, the iconic 23-storey Ritz Hotel was built in Sea Point, with a revolving restaurant.[11] Prior to the development of the V&A Waterfront, Sea Point was known as a "tiny Manhattan by the sea", known for its restaurants and entertainment.[12]
In the mid to late 1990s, the area experienced a rise in crime as drug dealers and prostitutes moved into the area. However, due to the aggressive adoption of
Sea Point forms part of Ward 54 in The City Of Cape Town, and is represented by Democratic Alliance councillor Nicola Jowell.[15]
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Early map of Sea Point and its infrastructure, c. 1906
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Cape 1st Class (4-4-0T) 1875 no. 4
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Round Church or Solomons Temple, 1906
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Graaff's Pool in 2020, shot on Kodak Ektar 100
Layout
Sea Point is a suburb of Cape Town and is situated on a narrow stretch of land between Cape Town's well known
Adjoining Sea Point is Three Anchor Bay. The beaches along this stretch are in the main covered with mussel shells tossed up by the surf, unlike the beaches of
Graaf's Pool, a beachfront tidal pool partially demolished in 2005, was the subject of a short film entitled "Behind the Wall", which contrasted the pool's origin story of Lady Marais, paralysed from the waist down from childbirth, whose husband built the pool for her as a private bathing area in the 1930s, and the Sea Point gay scene, which adopted the pool as a cruising ground between the 1960s and the 2000s.[16]
Transportation
The suburb is served by the MyCiTi bus rapid transit system. The 108 and 109 services take passengers to Hout Bay, V&A Waterfront and Adderley Street in downtown Cape Town. [17]
Houses of worship
- The Orthodox Jewish congregation on Marais Road, in 1994 it had the largest Jewish congregation in the Southern Hemisphere[18]
- Orthodox Jewishcongregation on Arthur's Road
- Ohr Somayach, Orthodox Jewish congregation on St John's Road and branch of Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem with a Baal teshuvatradition
- Sephardi Hebrew Congregation, Sepharditradition
- Orthodox Jewishcongregation on St John's Road
- Common Ground Church Sea Point (previously Sea Point Congregational Church), a Christianchurch at the corner of Main Road and Marais Road
- Sea Point Evangelical Congregational Church, an Evangelicalchurch on Main Road
- Sea Point Methodist Church, a Methodistchurch on Main Road
Education
Schools in the area include Sea Point Primary School and
In popular culture
- J.M. Coetzee begins and ends in Sea Point.[24]
- Sea Point Days, a 2008 documentary film directed by François Verster[25]
Notable people
- John Whitmore, surfer, surfboard shaper, radio presenter, Springbok surfing team manager, Hobie Cat King, knifemaker[26]
- Anthony Sher, actor and writer.
- David Bloomberg, mayor of Cape Town
- Sally Little, professional golfer.
- Saul Solomon, liberal Cape politician.
- Colin Eglin, politician.
- Springboks rugby unionfootballer.
- David Rosen, fashion designer and artist.
- Bob Newson, cricketer.
- Karen Press, poet.
- Jacobus Arnoldus Graaff, businessman and politician, commissioned the construction of Graaff's Pool.
- Louise Smit writer of popular South African television shows, Wielie Walie and Haas Das.
- Arno Carstens singer-songwriter.[27]
- Darrel Bristow-Bovey, writer[28]
Coat of arms
The Green and Sea Point municipal council assumed a coat of arms in 1901.[29] The shield was divided vertically, one half depicting signal masts on Signal Hill, the other a golden lion's head, shoulders and forepaws; in the centre, near the top, was a small blue shield displaying three anchors. An imperial crown was placed above the shield.[30] The coat of arms has been incorporated into the emblem of the Metropolitan Golf Club[31]
References
- ^ a b c d "Sub Place Sea Point". Census 2011.
- ^ Green, L. (1964). "Sea Point was a Paradise". I Heard the Old Men Say. Cape Town: Howard Timmins – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Wallis, Samuel".
- ^ sahoboss (2011-07-14). "Sea Point". South African History Online. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- ^ "Sea Point: On the Boardwalk". Archived from the original on 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
- ^ Green, L. (1964). "Tower and Bells". I Heard the Old Men Say. Cape Town: Howard Timmins.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Pain, shock of forced removals".
- ^ Winning vibes – see in photos why Sea Point was just named one of world’s coolest neighbourhoods Daily Maverick. 17 October 2022
- ^ Building an icon: Disi Park Visi. 13 March 2023
- ^ Sea Point welcomes the return of The Ritz Biz Community. 5 December 2017
- ISBN 9781776391240.
- ^ Witness - Battle of Sea Point. Al Jazeera. January 15, 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
- ^ "Sizzlers massacre remains a mystery | IOL News". Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- ^ "City of Cape Town".
- ^ Ronan Steyn (2012-09-10), Behind The Wall - In Zero Short Film Competition Winner 2012, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-06-17
- ^ MyCiTi System Map Accessed on 12.9.2023
- ^ Mandela Visits Cape Town Shul and Reassures Jews on Their Future Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 10 May 1994
- ^ "Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page: It works". www.spps.wcape.school.za.
- ^ Botha, P (March 2014). "Sea Point High School – 130th Birthday: Established 21 April 1884". The Good Times. 2 (1): 16. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "French School opens New Campus in Sea Point" (Archive). Orange South Africa. Retrieved on 22 January 2015.
- ^ McCain, Nicole. "SEA POINT WELCOMING THE FRENCH." People's Post. 13 February 2014. Retrieved on 22 January 2015.
- ^ "CONTACT." Cape Town French School. Retrieved on 22 January 2015. "Lycée Français du Cap 101, Hope Street - Gardens 8001 Cape Town South Africa" and "Ecole Française du Cap Corner Tramway and Kings road - Sea Point 8005 Cape Town South Africa"
- ^ Coetzee, J.M. Life & Times of Michael K. Ravan Press 1983
- Sundance Channel. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ "The John Whitmore Book Project". The John Whitmore Book Project.
- ^ "Carstens Considers Us". Channel. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- ^ "In praise of Sea Point | Darrel Bristow-Bovey". www.randomreads.co.za. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
- ^ Western Cape Archives : Green and Sea Point Municipal Minutes (10 July 1901).
- ^ Murray. M. (1964). Under Lion's Head.
- ^ "Metropolitan - Golf Course". www.metropolitangolfclub.co.za.