Emmarentia Dam is one of the recreation hot spots of greater Johannesburg. Thousands of people relax there every weekend but how many know its history? We certainly didn't until we stumbled across the following description compiled by the Joburg 100 Committee in the lead up to the city's centenary celebrations.
Lourens Geldenhuys (1864-1929) in conjunction with his brother Frans bought the farm Braamfontein in 1886. The two homesteads have survived - Frans' home as the club house at Marks Park and Lourens' home which has been kept in the family, in Greenhill Road Emmarentia. The brothers thought they would find the Clifton gold reef on their land but as it tuned out there was no gold and they set about farming.
Louw Geldenhuys House circa 1895
Lourens Geldenhuys was a generous man with a deep concern for his fellow Afrikaners and represented Vrededorp in the first Union Parliament. After the 1899 - 1902 Anglo-Boer war many Afrikaners were financially ruined and unemployed. Geldenhuys employed a number of these people, mostly ruined Transvaal farmers, to build a dam on his farm. He had two purposes in mind - to employ jobless Afrikaners and to ensure sufficient water for the cultivation of fruit trees. The dam was constructed of earth with a stone lining on the inside. The cost of the dam was £12,000. He utilised 145 morgen of his land to create 14...
