Molteno

Molteno is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.High in the Stormberg Mountains, Molteno is South Africa's second coldest town and it is close to the country's only ski resort.HistoryFoundingCoal fields were discovered in this part of the Stormberg Mountains in 1859, and this created an economic incentive for development. The local people also stated a need for a settlement, to serve as a central hub for the surrounding rural area. The town was founded in 1874 by George Vice, and laid out the next year. The town was the setting of South Africa's first coal mine. Its name has connections both locally to the people of the Eastern Cape (Molteno is a surname among the Xhosa speaking people of the district), but it also has Italian roots. At its founding, the town was officially named after an immigrant John Molteno, who had been born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family. Molteno became the first locally-elected leader of the Cape and fought against British imperial expansion in southern Africa. Several of the town's streets are similarly named after the members of the Cape's first locally-elected cabinet. Water was first drawn from the nearby Stormberg river, and later also from the Jubilee Dam.Coal miningSoon after its founding, the town became the major supplier of coal to the region, with a large portion going to supply the diamond fields in Kimberley. It was granted municipal status in 1883, and by 1892 around 6000 tons of coal were being extracted at Molteno. Much of this coal went to supplying the Cape's rapidly growing railway system. In 1887, the newly founded Molteno Chamber of Commerce was influential in urging the Cape Government to extend its railway system northwards into the Boer republics, so as to open up new markets. By 1897, production of coal in the region had risen to over 70,000 tons. However, by the 1920s the expansion of the railways made access to coal fields in Natal and the Transvaal possible, resulting in the decline of coal mining around Molteno.