Recent History
Before modern times the area was rich in game. Hunter-gatherers roamed
the area, and San rock paintings can still be seen around the area.
About 1836 European farmers settled in the area as cattle farmers, and
the area was called Riemland (Thong Country).
During the time of the two old Southern African countries, a dispute arose
in the Transvaal over the presidency. Marthinus Pretorius invaded the Free
State, but farmer from the Free State put up a defense. On 19 May 1857 the
matter was resolved without going to battle, and the name Vredefort (meaning
Fort of Peace) was introduced for a farm owned
by Jacobus Scheepers.
In 1876 the town was formally laid out with erven sold on 20 April of that
year. The town became an agricultural and religious centre.
In 1886 gold was discovered on the farm Weltevreden, owned by CJ Bornman.
The Great Western Mine produced gold in the area.
Attractions
Also see the neighbouring
towns
Earth Sciences and Image
Analysis Laboratory,
NASA Johnson Space Center
(Image STS51I-33-56AA)
The Vredefort Dome is an area hit by a massive
meteorite in ancient times. The town of Vredefort today lies in the centre
sport where the meteorite hit the earth at a speed between 10Km and 70Km
per second (or 36'000 - 252'000 Km per hour). Although the unusual rock
in the area has been known for a long time, only as recent as 1990 was the
meteorite theory confirmed.
The size of the meteorite is unknown, but informed
calculations of impact studies suggest that it was larger than 10Km in diameter.
Geologists speculate that this happened about 2023
million years ago. The resulting crater was originally between 250 and 300Km
in diameter and 5Km deep, but its remaining area around Vredefort is today
only about 40Km - 90Km. Rock material for a 350Km radius was displaced.
The impact was so intense that rock layers 20Km deep were turned up. The
heat of the friction melted rock, and the extremely high compression resulted
in reshaping rock structures.
This
crater is the largest known crater on our planet. By today most of the crater's
rim has been eroded away, exposing the rock that originally lay underneath
the original floor. Viewed from space, a parallel series of curved ridges
form an arc of about 80Km. These ridges are called the Vredefort Mountain
Land. The ridges consist of quartzite layers. Many rocks in the area have
the shape of a cone, due to the massive shock wave when the meteorite hit
the earth. An area with a diameter more than 40Km is surrounded by concentric
ridges of quartzite which popped up due to the impact. One of these ridges
is gold bearing. The gold mines of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg area)
lie on the northern ridge, and the Free State mines on the southern ridge.
