Mooi River (town)

Mooi River
Mooirivier railway station
Mooi River Show map of KwaZulu-Natal Mooi River Show map of South Africa Mooi River Show map of Africa  Mooi River shown within KwaZulu-Natal
Coordinates: 29°12′S 29°59′E / 29.200°S 29.983°E / -29.200; 29.983Coordinates: 29°12′S 29°59′E / 29.200°S 29.983°E / -29.200; 29.983
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Umgungundlovu
Municipality	Mpofana
Established	1852
Area
• Total	13.76 km2 (5.31 sq mi)
Elevation	1,393 m (4,570 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	17,779
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	91.6%
• Coloured	1.0%
• Indian/Asian	3.5%
• White	3.6%
• Other	0.2%
First languages (2011)
• Zulu	82.75%
• English	7.8%
• Afrikaans	0.8%
• Sotho	0.8%
• Other	7.85%
PO box	3300
Area code	033

Mooi River (Afrikaans: Mooirivier) is a small town situated at 1,389 m above sea level and 160 km from the coast in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The first European settlement in the area was at Mooi River Drift in 1852. This was formally named Weston in 1866 after the first Governor of Natal, Martin West.

In 1879, an Irishman named Alexander Lawrence purchased the farm "Grantleigh" upstream from Weston, on the banks of the Mooi River. "Mooirivier" is Afrikaans for "beautiful river".

In 1884, the railway line from Durban, on the coast, to Johannesburg, in the interior, reached the area and was built across Alexander Lawrence's land. He subsequently laid out and establish the village of Lawrenceville on his farm "Grantleigh" and so is known as "The Father of Mooi River". In 1921, the village was renamed Mooi River when it was declared a town.

It lies on the principal road N3 and rail routes between Johannesburg and Durban. Although the railway-station is no longer used for passengers, goods are still carried. There is a toll plaza located on the N3 at Mooi River.

There are six schools serving the Mooi River municipal area with numerous others further from town that serve the traditional farm labourer communities. The six main schools are:

The urban economy of the area is currently based primarily on Retail entrepreneurship, Tourism and supporting the local agricultural community. Previously, the backbone of the urban economy had been Mooi River Textiles which finally closed in 2002 after years of down-sizing. The decline of the textile industry is being reversed however with large foreign investment from the Far-East.

The rural economy is based on agriculture and tourism. The main farming categories are dairy and equine. Local farmers are supported by the Mooi River Farmers Association [1]

Mooi River forms an important part of the Midlands Meander tourism route [2]