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eventREF E-0093787Revised

Event record

Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town.

Date
13 Oct 1881
Updated
30 Sep 2019
Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town.

Adderly Street is possibly the most historically rich street in Cape Town. It gets its name from the man who vehemently opposed a proposal by the British to turn Cape Town into a convict colony, Charles B. Adderly. On 13 October 1881, the street got its first electric lights installed. Today the street is a main attraction for tourists in Cape Town. It is in close proximity to other attractions like the Old Slave Lodge Museum, Groote Kerk (the oldest church in South Africa) and the Company Gardens. During Christmas, the street comes alive with light fixtures.    

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How we know this

  1. 01Taj Cape Town, 
  2. 02">Adderly Street through the years, [online] Available at www.tajcapetown.co.za [Accessed:9 October 2013]
  3. 03Leeuwendaal D., Bright Days In Our History, [online], Available at www.capetown.gov.za [Accessed: 9 October 2013]
  4. 04South African History Online, Adderley Street, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 9 0ctober 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, October 10). Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town. . South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093787

South African History Online (2012) 'Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town. ', South African History Online, 10 October. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093787 (Accessed: 4 August 2026).

South African History Online, Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093787, (accessed 4 August 2026).

"Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town. ." South African History Online, 10 Oct. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093787. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Electric lights are installed in Adderley Street, Cape Town. ." South African History Online. October 10, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0093787.

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