Westville: From Cotton to Commerce
Category Market News
The quiet and leafy town of Westville is ideally situated just 20kms inland from the Durban city centre. Nestling securely between Sherwood and Pinetown, Westville enjoys easy access to the M13, N3 and M19 freeways, while still maintaining the feeling of being a peaceful, family-friendly place to live and work.
It’s not surprising that, in addition to being a sought-after residential area, Westville is also a popular centre for business, with many upmarket commercial business office parks offering attractive rental and purchase options to professional companies and other businesses.
The area’s proximity to major arterial routes means Durban, Umhlanga, the KZN South Coast and Upper Highway areas are all within easy reach, making it an easy commute for employees.
Although Westville now enjoys all the benefits associated with being part of the well-managed eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, its origins are far more humble.
Cotton, Germans and Ox Wagons
The town was first formed in 1847 and was named Westville in honour of Martin West, who was the first British lieutenant governor of Natal. The following year, London merchant Jonas Bergtheil, the Director of the Natal Cotton Company, chartered a ship and brought out a group of 35 immigrants and their families from Germany to work as cotton farmers. Konigkramer Road, which still exists today, is one of the legacies of these families who worked on, and later bought, land in the area.
The Bergtheil Museum, which is housed in the oldest building in Westville, highlights the lives of these settlers and the contributions they made to the settlements of Westville, Cleremont and New Germany. Declared a National Heritage Monument in 1983, the museum houses a fine collection of German period furniture and relics, as well as military records, Zulu and Hindu displays.
Before the construction of the railway in the late 1870s, Westville was also the first overnight stop for the ox wagons heading from Durban to the interior. In fact, what is today Jan Hofmeyr road was once part of the old ox wagon route. A plaque on the corner of Jan Hofmeyr and Outspan Road commemorates the place where the wagons used to stop.
The Township of Westville was formally established in 1942. Some of the houses in the Dawncliff area were built specifically for soldiers returning from World War II, and still have title deeds stating that cattle and poultry may be kept on the property!
The Perfect Place To Work
The Westville of today capitalises on the strategic location that made it so popular as a wagon stopover all those years ago.
It is the perfect location for families to live and work, as the schools in the area are among the best in the region, with learners regularly featuring among the top academic performers in the Province. There is also a University of KwaZulu Natal campus, as well as several smaller, private tertiary colleges and institutions.
Residential properties are generally quite large, with well-established gardens - some of which have streams running through them. This “country” atmosphere however, belies Westville’s proximity to world-class amenities. In addition to its superb schools, the area is also known for its excellent shopping, sporting and medical facilities, making it an extremely popular area for home buyers.
With so many reasons to choose Westville as the new location for your company or office, we know you’re going to want to see for yourself everything the area has to offer. Contact one of our friendly and knowledgeable agents today – we can’t wait to show you around.
Author: Dawn Hutton
