Editing Amanzimtoti (section)

===Late colonial history===

[[Dick King]] passed through the Amanzimtoti area on his way to [[Grahamstown]] in 1842 in order to request help for the besieged British garrison at Port Natal (now the [[Old Fort (Durban)|Old Fort, Durban]]). The route that Dick King took through Amanzimtoti later became a road named Kingsway.

In 1847 Dr [[Newton Adams]] moved from [[Umlazi]] (where he had established a [[mission station]] in 1836) to Amanzimtoti and started a new mission station.<ref name="Adams">{{cite web|title=Adams College - Historical Background|url=http://www.adamscollegesa.co.za/site/adams-college|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718182427/http://www.adamscollegesa.co.za/site/adams-college|archivedate=18 July 2013|accessdate=26 August 2011}}</ref> Dr Adams died in 1851, and the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]] sent Rev. Rood to Amanzimtoti in 1853 with the express object of opening up a school.<ref name="Adams"/> [[Adams Mission Church]] was built inland of Amanzimtoti in 1852, and [[Adams College]] was built in 1853.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> The college was first named "Amanzimtoti Institute" and was later renamed after Dr. Adams in the 1930s.<ref name="Adams"/>

Different accounts identify the first colonial-era house in the Amanzimtoti area, with one reference claiming a house on the south side of the Amanzimtoti River as the oldest house and another claiming a house to the north of the river as the oldest.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> The "first house" in Amanzimtoti, known as ''Klein Frystaat'' ("Little [[Free State Province|Free State]]"), was owned by Howard Wright and was situated "on the north side of the back of the old [[Anglican]] Church" on Adams Road.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> The house was demolished in 1984.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> However, the "best guess" for the first house built in Amanzimtoti is 1895, and it may have been on the "headland" south of Amanzimtoti Lagoon.<ref name="Meitener"/>

A photograph of a rowing-boat on the Amanzimtoti River taken in 1889 shows the banks of the river vegetated with ''[[Phragmites australis]]'', ''[[Phoenix reclinata]]'' and coastal bush.<ref name="Meitener"/> However a later traveler in 1911 claims to have been the first person to take a camera up the river, but also describes "reed-covered isles" and "overhanging trees", and his photographs show ''Phoenix reclinata'' growing on the banks.<ref name="RailwaysPrinting">{{cite book|last=Tatlow|first=A.H.|year=1911|title=Natal Province: Descriptive Guide and Official Hand-book|publisher=South African Railways Printing Works|location=Durban, Natal}}</ref>

The railway line from Durban to [[Isipingo]] was extended to [[Park Rynie]] from 1896 onwards, and the first train passed through Amanzimtoti in 1897.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> This train left Durban on 22 February at 7:55 AM and consisted of a [[Dübs & Company]] locomotive with two goods trucks, two passenger trucks, and a brake-van.<ref name="Meitener"/> There was a tin [[Shack|shanty]] siding at Amanzimtoti in 1897 which served as a station.<ref name="Meitener"/> The route from the Amanzimtoti train station to Adams Mission was named Adams Road. The first hotel in Amanzimtoti was built in 1898 to cater for holidaymakers, some of whom came from as far afield as [[Johannesburg]] on specially organised trains.<ref name="TotiTimes"/> The first hotel was built of wood and iron, but burnt down in May 1899.<ref name="Meitener"/> Amanzimtoti had its first stationmaster in 1902.<ref name="Meitener"/>