History Of Mossel Bay

Province: Western Cape
Garden Route
Coordinates:34°11′00″S 22°08′00″E
Area:42.2 km2
Municipality: Mossel Bay

First People and First Europeans

Humans have inhabited the Mossel Bay area for around 164,000 years. The town’s name, derived from the Dutch word for “mussel shells,” reflects its coastal heritage. Mossel Bay is historically significant as the first place where Europeans set foot on South African soil. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias and his crew landed near the present-day Dias Museum, where they replenished their water supplies from a freshwater spring. Dias, appointed by King John II of Portugal to find an alternate route to India, unknowingly rounded the Cape of Good Hope before arriving in Mossel Bay, which he initially named Angra dos Vaqueiros (The Bay of Cowherds). He also named the Cape as Cabo das Tormentas (the ‘Cape of Storms’), though King John II later renamed it Cabo da Boa Esperança (the Cape of Good Hope). The name “Mossel Bay” was given by Paulus van Caerden in 1601.

Dias’ First Encounter with the Locals

Dias and his crew were met with hostility by the local inhabitants, who pelted them with rocks and stones. However, when Vasco da Gama reached this Bay in 1497, he charted the area as Aguada de São Brás (the Watering Place of St. Blaize) and successfully bartered for cattle with the Khoi people. From the earliest days of Dutch settlement, Mossel Bay served as a major port for the Southern Cape region. Although the Dutch governor Jan de la Fontaine erected a possession stone in 1734, the first permanent building, a fortress-like granary, was only constructed in 1787. The first shipment of locally grown wheat left the Bay the following year.

Despite the British taking control of the Cape in 1806 and formally acquiring the Colony in 1814, the Dutch name “Mossel Bay” persisted. In 1848, the Bay was briefly renamed Aliwal, in honour of a victory by Cape Governor Sir Harry Smith over the Sikhs in India. However, the name  remained in common use. The town’s first permanent settlers arrived in the late 18th century, and the railway reached Mossel Bay in 1905. During the ostrich feather boom, the area became a key export hub.

Town of “Firsts”

Mossel Bay is notable for several historical firsts in South Africa. It is home to some of the earliest evidence of human habitation, and in 1497, it witnessed the first recorded commercial transaction when Vasco da Gama traded with Khoi herders, exchanging a red sailor’s cap and bracelets for an ox. In 1501, Pedro d’Ataide left a letter in a sailor’s shoe under a Milkwood Tree, establishing the first post office in Southern Africa. That same year, the first place of Christian worship in Southern Africa, an ‘Ermida,’ was erected by Admiral João da Nova of the Fourth Portuguese Fleet in gratitude for his safe return from India. Mossel Bay’s rich history of firsts highlights its significance in the early interactions between Europeans and the indigenous people of Southern Africa.

Vintage seaside picture from Saartjie Klipkop

The economy

Fishing and farming remained the main activities of the area during the early years of the 20th Century. It is still one of the main sources of mussels and oysters. The discovery of natural gas fields offshore in 1969 caused exponential growth,

The license plate prefix for Mossel Bay is CBS     Postcodes are, street Code: 6506 Box Code: 6500

Weather in Mossel bay today

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Things to see and do in Mossel Bay

• Post Office Tree; In 1501, another Portuguese navigator, Pedro d’Ataide, found shelter in here after losing much of his fleet in a storm. He left an account of the story in an old shoe suspended from a milkwood tree near the spring from which Dias had found water. The report was found by the explorer to whom it was addressed — João da Nova — and the tree served as a sort of post office for decades thereafter.
• -Attaquakloof pass (Old ox waggon trail)
• Du Plessis pass
• Santos Beach has blue flag status
• The Shark Lab:  Mini Aquarium – 063 408 1724
• Visit the seal breeding ground at Seal Island
• The Diaz Museum – 044 691 1067 
• Cape St Blaize lighthouse
• Hartenbos – 044 691 2202 
• Point of Human Origins, Pinnacle Point- 079 640 0004
• Take a course in sailing.082 826 3825
• Annual Eight Bells MTB adventure 082 416 5069 or 082 441 7198
• Self-guided Art Walk
• A guided historical Ghost walk    065 637 4582

Useful Numbers

• Police: Mossel Bay – 044 606 2201
• Traffic department: Mossel Bay 044 606 5000 / 5201
• Home Affairs: 044 693 0054 / 0357
• Fire: Mossel Bay 044 606 5031
• Water:044 606 5262
• Electricity:044 606 5082
• Ambulance: 10177
• Post office; Mossel Bay -044 691 1554
• Library: Mossel Bay – 044 606 5171
• Closest hospital; MosselBay 044 691 2011
• Pharmacy; Mossel Bay- 044 691 1835
• SPCA: Garden Route  – 072 287 1761
• Seabirds 082 364 3382
• Stranded animals: 072 227 4715
• Marine life: 0722274715
• Life-saving: 083 4621182
• Sea rescue: 082 990 5954
• Museums; The Diaz museum – 044 691 1067  Hartenbos – 044 691 2202  Point of Human Origins, Pinnacle Point- 079 640 0004
• Tourism:  044 691 2202