Editing Modimolle

{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Modimolle
| other_name              = Nylstroom
| pushpin_map             = South Africa Limpopo#South Africa#Africa
| coordinates             = {{coord|24|42|00|S|28|24|22|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type        = [[Country]] 
| subdivision_name        = [[South Africa]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of South Africa|Province]] 
| subdivision_name1       = [[Limpopo]]
| subdivision_type2       = [[List of districts of South Africa|District]] 
| subdivision_name2       = [[Waterberg District Municipality|Waterberg]]
| subdivision_type3       = [[List of municipalities of South Africa|Municipality]] 
| subdivision_name3       = [[Modimolle–Mookgophong Local Municipality|Modimolle–Mookgophong]]
| subdivision_type4       = Main Place
| established_title       = Established
| leader_title            = Councillor
| area_footnotes          = <ref name=census2011>[https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/980006003] from Census 2011.</ref>
| area_total_km2          = 74.9
| population_footnotes    = <ref name=census2011 />
| population_total        = 8671
| population_as_of        = 2011
| population_density_km2  = auto
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1      = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 />
| demographics1_title1    = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]]
| demographics1_info1     = 44.3%
| demographics1_title2    = [[Coloureds|Coloured]]
| demographics1_info2     = 1.1%
| demographics1_title3    = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]]
| demographics1_info3     = 0.7%
| demographics1_title4    = [[White South African|White]]
| demographics1_info4     = 53.6%
| demographics1_title5    = Other
| demographics1_info5     = 0.3%
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2      = [[First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 />
| demographics2_title1    = [[Northern Sotho language|Northern Sotho]]
| demographics2_info1     = 27.4%
| demographics2_title2    = [[Afrikaans]]
| demographics2_info2     = 53.2%
| demographics2_title3    = [[English language|English]]
| demographics2_info3     = 4.1%
| demographics2_title4    = [[Tsonga language|Tsonga]]
| demographics2_info4     = 3.8%
| demographics2_title5    = Other
| demographics2_info5     = 11.5%
<!-- blank fields (section 2) -->
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone1               = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1             = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street)
| postal_code             = 0510
| postal2_code_type       = [[Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code            = 0510
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]]
| area_code               = 014
}}
'''Modimolle''', also known as '''Nylstroom''', is a town located near the southern edge of the [[Waterberg Biosphere|Waterberg Massif]] in [[Limpopo]] province, [[South Africa]]. It is a medium-sized town that focuses primarily on agriculture and farming ([[citrus]], [[grape]]s and [[cattle]]) as well as wildlife and tourism. Nylstroom is also located approximately {{convert|135|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} north of [[Pretoria]], South Africa's [[capital city]].

The [[Waterberg Biosphere]] spreading north, a [[UNESCO]] designated [[Biosphere Reserve]], contains approximately {{convert|15,000|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=off}}.  Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a [[Biosphere Reserve]] by  [[UNESCO]]. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and [[butte]] [[landform]].<ref name="Hogan">C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, ''The Waterberg Biosphere'', Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006. {{cite web |url=http://www.luminatechnologies.org/lumaw.html |title=Lumaw |access-date=2010-06-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301133927/http://www.luminatechnologies.org/lumaw.html |archive-date=2012-03-01 }}</ref>  The ecosystem can be characterised as a [[dry deciduous forest]] or [[Bushveld]].

==History==

In the 1860s, a group of [[Voortrekkers]] known as the ''Jerusalem Trekkers'' set off for the [[Holy Land]]. After discovering a wide river flowing northwards, they consulted the maps at the back of their Bibles and decided that it was the ''Nylrivier'' ([[Nile|Nile river]]).<ref name=TouringSA_165>{{cite book| title=Touring in Southern Africa| author=Maxwell Leigh| publisher=C. Struik Publishers| year=1986| edition=First| page=156}}</ref> They called the stream [[Nyl River]] and settled the town and called it ''Nylstroom'' in 1866.<ref>William Taylor, Gerald Hinde and David Holt-Biddle, ''The Waterberg'', Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa (2003) {{ISBN|1-86872-822-6}}</ref><ref name=EC_Modimolle1>{{cite web| publisher=Encyclopedia.com| title=Modimolle| url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Modimolle.html| access-date=2010-03-26}}</ref> After discovering what they believed to be a ruined pyramid, they were convinced that they had found the Nile. It was in fact, a natural hillock, known to the locals as ''Modimolle''.<ref name=RD_IGTSA_200>{{cite book| title=Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa| author=Denis Worral| editor=Vic Mayhew| publisher=The Reader's Digest Association South Africa (Pty.) Ltd| year=1980| edition=Second revised (1980)| page=244}}</ref> In March 1866, the district of ''Waterberg'' was created out of some of the districts of ''Rustenburg'' and ''Zoutpansberg'' with a landdrost established in Nylstroom.<ref name="Theal01">{{cite book | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015058527659;view=1up;seq=250 | title=History of South Africa: the republics and native territories from 1854 to 1872 | publisher=S. Sonnenschein & co. | author=Theal, George McCall | year=1889 | location=London}}</ref>{{rp|230}} A [[Dutch Reformed Church]] was built in 1889 and is the oldest church in South Africa north of Pretoria.  It was also used as a hospital during the [[Second Boer War]]. The river is the [[Nyl River]], a tributary of the [[Mogalakwena River]].

The first [[Rail transport in South Africa|South African railway line]] reached Modimolle in 1898, connecting the town to Pretoria. During the [[Second Boer War]], the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] operated a [[Internment|concentration camp]] in Modimolle, where [[Boer]] women and children where interned as part of the [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]]'s [[scorched earth]] policy. 544 of those interned at the camp died of various causes before it was closed upon the conclusion of the war in 1902. ''Strijdom Huis'' (Strijdom House) was the primary residence of the 6th [[Prime Minister of South Africa]], [[JG Strijdom]], and is situated in Modimolle.<ref name=IOL_StrijdomBust>{{cite news| publisher=Independent Online| title=Strijdom bust carted off to 'place of safety'| url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct20020226211544567S36235539| date=2002-02-26| access-date=2010-03-25}}</ref>

===Name change===
The South African government officially changed the name of the town to ''Modimolle'' in 2002.<ref name=SAGNS_Nylstroom>{{cite web| publisher=South African Department of Arts and Culture| title=Official South African Geographical Names System: Old Place Names starting with N| url=http://sagns.dac.gov.za/PublicOldPlaceNames.aspx?Contains=N| date=2002-06-14| access-date=2010-03-25}}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The name comes from the [[Sotho-Tswana]] phrase, ''[[Modimo]] o lle'', meaning "the forefather's spirit has eaten", or "God has eaten".<ref name=EC_Modimolle1 /><ref name=AL_Modimolle>{{cite web| publisher=African Languages| title=Meanings of place names in South Africa| url=http://africanlanguages.com/south_africa/place_names.html| access-date=2010-03-26}}</ref>

Other numerous name changes include the renaming of both a municipal building and the town hall after [[Oliver Tambo]], the library being renamed the ''[[Ruth First]] Memorial Library'', as well as the renaming of several streets.<ref name=MEDIA24_Tizz>{{cite news| publisher=News24| title=New names have town in a tizz| url=http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/2544eaa7264d480caa8d905c9c667152/20-01-2005-11-00/New_names_have_town_in_a_tizz_| date=2005-01-20| access-date=2009-09-28}}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Notable people==

*[[Christiaan Beyers]] – Boer general, and Commandant-General of the Union Defence Force<ref name=TouringSA_165 />
*[[Carel Boshoff]] – Professor of theology and Afrikaner [[white nationalist]]<ref name=teleg>{{Cite news|title=Carel Boshoff|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8388984/Carel-Boshoff.html|publisher= Telegraph|accessdate= 26 August 2014|date= 2011-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |title=Carel Boshoff, Founder of White Redoubt in South Africa, Dies at 83 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/africa/20boshoff.html |access-date=31 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=19 March 2011}}</ref>
*[[Lucas Malan]] – Afrikaans academic and poet
*[[Eugene Marais|Eugène Marais]] – Poet, journalist, lawyer, naturalist and author<ref name=TouringSA_165 />
*[[Gerard Moerdijk]] – Architect<ref name=TouringSA_165 />
*[[Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom]] – 5th [[Prime Minister of South Africa]]<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom>{{cite web| publisher=Britannica Online Encyclopedia| title=Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom| url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569087/Johannes-Gerhardus-Strijdom| access-date=2010-03-25}}</ref>
*[[Nelson Makamo]] – South African visual artist.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.modimolle.gov.za/ Modimolle Municipality Website]

{{Waterberg District Municipality}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Modimolle–Mookgophong Local Municipality]]
[[Category:Second Boer War concentration camps]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1866]]
[[Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners]]
[[Category:1866 establishments in Africa]]