page_title: History of Johannesburg
section_title: Society
hierarchical_section_title: History of Johannesburg / Republican Era / Society
caption_attribution_description: Afrikaans: Hohenheim (1892-1894 gebou) was die eerste herehuis van die Randlords, en die eerste huis in Parktown. Dit is ontwerp deur Frank Emley (sommige sê William Leck) as tuiste vir Sir Lionel Phillips and sy gade Lady Florence Phillips. Later sou Percy Fitzpatrick dit betrek. Dit is in 1915 geskenk en omskep in die Otto Beit-herstellingsoord, en is in 1972 gesloop vir uitbreidings aan die Johannesburgse hospitaal. 'n Plaket herdenk die ligging van die geskiedkundige gebou.[1][2] English: First of the Randlord mansions, Hohenheim. It was designed by Frank Emley (or William Leck) and was home to Sir Lionel Phillips and his wife Lady Florence Phillips. It was the first house built in Parktown in 1892-1894. Hohenheim was donated and converted onto the Otto Beit Convalescent Home in 1915, and was demolished in 1972, but a plaque remains in honor of this important building. ↑ House L Phillips - Hohenheim. artefacts.co.za. Retrieved on 2 March 2016. ↑ Hospital Hill (Old Suburb between Braamfontein &amp; Hillbrow). Retrieved on 2 March 2016.
context_page_description: Johannesburg is a large city in Gauteng Province of South Africa. It was established as a small village controlled by a Health Committee in 1886 with the discovery of an outcrop of a gold reef on the farm Langlaagte. The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1897. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. In 2002 it joined ten other municipalities to form the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Today, it is a centre for learning and entertainment for all of South Africa. It is also the capital city of Gauteng.
context_section_description: From the start the city segregated itself spatially in terms of class and, to a lesser extent, race. Julius Jeppe and his partner, Lewis Peter Ford, bought a portion of the farm Turffontein. They had two townships surveyed and called them Fordsburg and Jeppestown. Both were next to the mines along the Main Reef. The stands in Fordsburg were auctioned is May 1887, but the prices were very low because the soil was marshy. The result was that white working-class families settled in Jeppestown and in Fordsburg factories, bars and "kafir-eating houses" sprang up.
  Just north of Jeppestown is Doornfontein, then known as a 'classy' suburb, where professional and commercial men lived. Many Jews lived there as well. Their children attended school. The first English language school in Johannesburg was started by the Holy Family Sisters. In 1887 they opened a school in Fox Street, but it grew so fast that they had to move to bigger premises in End Street, next to Doornfontein.
  To the west of Doornfontein was Braamfontein, where white wage earners with families and single white men lived.
  In October 1887 the government of the ZAR bought the south-eastern portion of the farm Braamfontein. Quite a big stream flowed along the farm and they intended selling the water to the residents of Johannesburg. But there were also large quantities of clay, suitable for brickmaking, along the stream. The government decided that more money was to be made from issuing brick maker's licences at five shillings per month. The result was that many landless Dutch-speaking burghers (citizens) of the ZAR settled on the property and started making bricks. They also erected their shacks there. Soon the area was known either as Brickfields or Veldschoendorp. Soon other working poor, "Malays, Coolies and Kaffirs" also settled there. The government, who sought to differentiate the white working class from the black, laid out new suburbs for the Burghers, Indians, Coloureds and Africans, but the whole area simply stayed multiracial.
  The railway line and goods yards were just north of these slum areas. On 19 February 1896 there was a great dynamite explosion in the railway goods yard at Braamfontein. 55 tons of dynamite had been left in the blazing sun and was detonated by the impact of a shunting engine. The explosion left a crater 250 feet long, 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep. At least 78 people were killed and 1500 injured. The government made another effort to separate the burghers from the non-whites by allowing them to become tenants in the newer suburb called Vrededorp. The suburbs was opened to white who could acquire the stands on leasehold for a mere two shillings and sixpence a month. Many whites took up the offer and then sublet the stands to Indians for five shillings a month.
  On the mines living conditions were harsh and alienating, particularly for the Africans who lived in large compounds. They were placed in bunk houses, which were overcrowded and cold in winter, where food was tedious and not abundant and where pulmonary disease was rife. White miners lived differently, though not in overwhelming comfort.
  Meanwhile, at the northern extremity of the town was Parktown, already known for its exclusivity and extreme wealth. Sir Lionel Phillips was the first Randlord to build a mansion in Parktown. "Hohenheim" was built in 1894 and demolished in 1972 to make way for the Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Sunny Side Park was designed by Frank Emley for Hennen Jennings and completed in 1896. Today it is part of the Sunny Side Park Hotel. "The View" was completed in 1897. It was built by Charles Aburrow as the residence of Sir Thomas Cullinan.
caption: Hohenheim was the first of the Parktown mansions when completed in 1894.
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