Vryheid Volksraad Building and Post Office The first meetings of the “Nieuwe Republiek Volksraad” took place in tents where it was decided to construct a permanent building. On 14th November 1884, the building contract of a Government office was awarded at a value of £205, to build out of natural materials. The proposed location being Landdroststreet.

On the 1st of June 1885 President Lucas Meijer addressed the first meeting of the   Assembly in their new building:  “After lengthy and heavily tried months in which we were obliged to continue our activities in tents, where it was almost impossible to have them performed, we have now the privilege to gather in this new building, although it has not been finished completely”   The building was finally completed in 1885  at a cost of £250. The Building served as both the Volksraad and the Magistrates Courts.

Uitleg van die “NIUWE REPUBLIEK”  Regerings Gebou KAMER 1 VoIksraad, Landdrost en hooggeregshof;  KAMER 2 EN 3 Waarskynlik die gevangenis en later die telgraafkantoor;  KAMER 4 Kantoor;  KAMER 5 Staatssekretariskantoor en Uitvoerende Raadskantoor

Plan of the “Niuwe Republiek” Government Building  ROOM 1 Volksraad chamber, magistrates and Supreme Court. ROOM 2 AND 3 Probably the prison and later the telegraph office. ROOM 4 Office ROOM 5 Office of the state secretary and meeting room of the Executive Committee

 

Poskantoor & Telegraaf Kantoor / Post & Telegraph Office From 1894 to 1906 the old Raadsaal building was used as a Post Office for Vryheid

 

This Building was later used as the Police Station of Vryheid before becoming the office of the State Veterinary. In 1936 it was declared a National Monument and in 1938 turned into a museum. It was the fifth building in Natal and the sixteenth in South Africa to become a National Monument. It is one of the oldest museums in Natal. (text partly from Battlefields Route website)