Did You Know?
Die Waenhuis (The Wagon House) in George is a historical building dating to 1811, making it one of the oldest surviving structures in the town. It was originally constructed as a wagon house and workshop, serving the needs of the early Cape colonial administration and settlers who relied on ox-wagons for transport across the rugged Outeniqua region. The building is associated with the era when George was established as a magisterial district in 1811, during the British occupation of the Cape Colony. It reflects the practical architecture of the period, typically built with local materials such as timber and stone, and its function was central to the movement of goods and people before the construction of the Montagu Pass in the 1840s. Today, Die Waenhuis is recognised as a provincial heritage site, preserved as a reminder of George's early transport and colonial history. The building stands as a rare example of an early 19th-century wagon house in the Western Cape, and its location in George, the administrative centre of the southern Cape, underscores the town's role as a staging post between the coast and the interior.
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