Bethulie

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title: "Bethulie" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-the-kopanong-local-municipality", "second-boer-war-concentration-camps", "populated-places-established-in-1863", "1863-establishments-in-the-orange-free-state"] topic_path: "history/military" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethulie" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Bethulie
image_skyline	Nederduitse Gereformeerde Church, Grey Street, Bethulie.JPG
image_caption	Nederduitse Gereformeerde Church, Grey Street, Bethulie
pushpin_map	South Africa Free State#South Africa#Africa
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	South Africa
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Free State
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Xhariep
subdivision_type3	Municipality
subdivision_name3	Kopanong
subdivision_type4	Main Place
established_title	Established
established_date	1863
government_type	Municipality
leader_party	ANC
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Xolile Mathwa
area_footnotes
area_total_km2	37.0
population_footnotes
population_total	16000 (approx.)
population_as_of	2023
population_density_km2	auto
demographics_type1	Racial makeup (2011)
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1	Black African
demographics1_info1	81.6%
demographics1_title2	Coloured
demographics1_info2	9.3%
demographics1_title3	Indian/Asian
demographics1_info3	0.7%
demographics1_title4	White
demographics1_info4	8.0%
demographics1_title5	Other
demographics1_info5	0.4%
demographics_type2	First languages (2011)
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1	Xhosa
demographics2_info1	43.8%
demographics2_title2	Sotho
demographics2_info2	31.0%
demographics2_title3	Afrikaans
demographics2_info3	18.9%
demographics2_title4	English
demographics2_info4	2.7%
demographics2_title5	Other
demographics2_info5	3.7%
timezone1	SAST
utc_offset1	+2
postal_code_type	Postal code (street)
postal_code	9992
postal2_code_type	PO box
postal2_code	9992
area_code_type	Area code
area_code	051
::

History

Evidence of life was found to be dated to 250 million years ago in the form of fossils.

The first land dwellers to be active in the Bethulie region were the Bushmen, whose various drawings are still in existence in the area. In 1828 a mission station was established by the London Missionary Society for the local people, the San Bushman. It was originally known as Groot Moordenaarspoort (Murderer's Pass) after a vicious clash between the Sotho and Griqua tribes. In 1832 the missionary Jean Pierre Pellissier, whose home is one of the oldest pioneer buildings north of the Orange River, replaced the London missionaries. It now houses a historical museum displaying items of the past and information on the life and trial of Jean Pellissier and Chief Lephoi and his people. Until 1833 Bethulie was known as Caledon (after the nearby Caledon River). This name was in conflict with a Western Cape town bearing the same name. Then in 1833 a French Missionary Society, the "Paris Evangelical Missionary Society" took over control of the area and renamed the mission station Bethulua, meaning "Place of Worship". In 1835 it was renamed Verheullpolis and in 1863 the town was established and renamed Heidelberg. In 1872 the town was again renamed to Bethulie. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899 to 1902) the third largest concentration camp erected by the British was also situated in Bethulie.

Timeline

1777: R.J. Gordon reached the Groot river approximately 10 kilometers from the current Bethulie; he named the river the Oranje river. Mr. Gordon also noted in his drawings of the veldt and his surroundings that he noticed 6 Bushmen.
1803: Governor J.W. Janssens traveled to the current location of Bethulie.
1809: Colonel R. Collins reached the convergence of both the Caledon and Oranje rivers, he is also credited for the Caledon River's name.
1823: G.P.N. Coetsee noted that during his travels in the area he only noticed Bushmen and no other settlements nor indigenous people.
1828–1833: Missionary work within the Bushman community was undertaken by J. Clark and G.A. Kolbe.
1833–1867: Missionary work within the Tlhaping community was undertaken by J.P. Pellissier.
1860–1863: During 1860 farmers bought 6,000 morgen (A morgen was a unit of measurement of land in Germany, the Netherlands and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa) from the Tlhaping to be officially proclaimed a town with the name of Heidelberg. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/DH_Steyn_Bridge_near_Bethulie.JPG" caption="D.H. Steyn Bridge near Bethulie"] ::

The D.H. Steyn Bridge or Hennie Steyn Bridge is an arched bridge near the town of Bethulie, it is a combined road and rail bridge which spans the Orange River just outside Bethulie. It is 1,152 m (1,260 yds) long, and 51.5m high and thereby the longest bridge in South Africa. It is also claimed to be the longest in the southern hemisphere. Work started 1899 and completed 1901.

Notable people

Bethulie's most famous son was Patrick Mynhardt, whose one-man shows featuring Herman Charles Bosman's character Oom Schalk Lourens were popular in South Africa. His autobiographical show Boy from Bethulie formed the basis for a book of the same name.

References

References

Robson, Linda Gillian. (2011). "The Royal Engineers and settlement planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, methodology and impact". University of Pretoria.
link. (January 6, 2014)
Sum of the Main Places [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/461018 Bethulie] and [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/461019 Lephoi] from Census 2011.

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