Fraserburg in the arid Karoo was formally founded in 1851. This house was probably built during the wool boom in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Being an arid region, trees were never abundant, and the street trees in the photograph are exotic eucalyptus trees. Making do in the absence of trees providing wood for building, the first settlers from the Cape moving into the region in the 1700s, nomadic farmers known as Trekboers, built corbelled houses out of stone. As stock farmers they came into conflict with the San people (also referred to as Bushmen) who were ultimately displaced and dispossessed of their land, with many San people being killed or driven away.
Tellingly, the first important European settler buildings in the town were churches (1805 and 1851), soon to be followed by a Post Office, a Magistrates Court, a police station and then a prison.
Posted by Carol
letting nature back in 
December 8, 2018 at 9:03 am
Well said, Carol!
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December 10, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Thank you Suzette.
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December 8, 2018 at 6:11 am
Tellingly indeed! Sadly all too many of our small towns are suffering much the same fate. Most small town businesses have been pushed out by our modern industries and/or global enterprises, leaving the residents in a sorry state. But I noticed that your scene looks far tidier than many of our abandoned buildings in such places.
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December 10, 2018 at 7:51 pm
Yes the demise of so many small towns is sad. There are houses in the town of my photograph that are lived in or, such as the one I photographed, rented out to travelers and tourists and so kept in good condition, but some streets are dilapidated with many houses derelict.
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December 7, 2018 at 4:00 am
Well, if that isn’t the classic progression of European settler buildings, I don’t know what is. From ‘this is what you should believe’ to ‘OK, we’ll just lock you up.’
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December 7, 2018 at 7:23 pm
Yes, it struck me too that this building pattern is somewhat emblematic of the colonial past in so many places.
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December 7, 2018 at 2:31 am
So many Karoo towns are becoming either ghost towns or extremely impoverished. Is that true for Fraserburg as well?
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December 7, 2018 at 7:20 pm
Yes, it seems to be sadly true for Fraserburg too – not much economic activity and in some streets there are many derelict buildings standing empty.
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December 8, 2018 at 1:10 am
Such a pity
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December 6, 2018 at 9:51 pm
This looks so exotic – so very different from what we’re used to in our far-from-arid climate. Even the eucalyptus trees give a different feel to the street.
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December 7, 2018 at 7:10 pm
It is interesting for me to try to view these small dusty towns as something exotic. Even though I don’t live in an arid region, I do still regard these landscapes and places as familiar terrain.
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