Johannesburg's Migration History

Why Hillbrow?

It was laid out as a residential suburb during 1894 and 1895, with Richard Currie auctioning the stands. In 1897 it became part of Johannesburg's Sanitary Board. After World War Two, developers started purchasing the stands at values beyond their worth and eventually turned it into blocks of flats.

That's when the story of this neighborhood begins, the discovery of Gold in Johannesburg saw people from all over the world flying into the city and Hillbrow welcomed all of them. Dure the political status in South Africa at the Times Hillbrow was meant to a white area according to the Group Area's Act.

Hillbrow has always been very cosmopolitan and very mixed racially since its discovery and nothing has changed today; it's just more Afro-cosmopolitan...

Hillbrow as two of Johannesburg's iconic towers in less then 3km walking distance.