Rissik Street Post Office

Last updated

Rissik Street Post Office
9 2 228 0067-Post Office-Johannesburg-s.jpg
The Rissik str post office while still operational in 1988
Rissik Street Post Office
General information
StatusUnder reconstruction
Location Johannesburg, South Africa
Coordinates 26°12′16″S28°02′32″E / 26.20431°S 28.04225°E / -26.20431; 28.04225
Completed1897
Technical details
Floor count4

The Rissik Street Post Office was built in 1897 during the time of Paul Kruger. Built and designed by President Paul Kruger's architect Sytze Wierda the Post Office was at one time the tallest building in Johannesburg, with a height of 102 metres (334.64 ft). [1] [2] [3]

The Post Office became a national monument in 1978, and it remained in operation until 1996 when the South African Post Office vacated the building. The monument was gutted by a fire in 2009. The reconstruction with an estimated cost of R147-million began in 2016. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretoria</span> Administrative capital of South Africa

Pretoria, is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannesburg</span> Largest city in South Africa

Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa with 4,803,262 people, and is classified as a megacity; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Square, Pretoria</span> Square at the historic centre of Pretoria

Church Square, originally Market Square, is the square at the historic centre of the city of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The founder of Pretoria, Marthinus Pretorius, determined that the square be used as a market place and church yard. It was subsequently named for the church buildings that stood at the centre of the square from 1856 to 1905. The square's most prominent feature, since June 1954, is the statue of the late Boer leader and president of the South African Republic, Paul Kruger, at its centre. Statues of four anonymous Boer citizen-soldiers surround that of Kruger on a lower level of the plinth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potchefstroom</span> Place in North West, South Africa

Potchefstroom, colloquially known as Potch, is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooirivier, roughly 120 km (75 mi) west-southwest of Johannesburg and 45 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Klerksdorp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Observatory</span> Defunct observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa

Union Observatory also known as Johannesburg Observatory (078) is a defunct astronomical observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa that was operated between 1903 and 1971. It is located on Observatory Ridge, the city's highest point at 1,808 metres altitude in the suburb Observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Johannesburg</span>

Johannesburg is a large city in Gauteng Province of South Africa. It was established as a small village controlled by a Health Committee in 1886 with the discovery of an outcrop of a gold reef on the farm Langlaagte. The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1898. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. In 2002 it joined ten other municipalities to form the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Today, it is a centre for learning and entertainment for all of South Africa. It is also the capital city of Gauteng.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witwatersrand Gold Rush</span> Gold rush in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush that began in 1886 and led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton Centre</span> Skyscraper in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Carlton Centre is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in central Johannesburg, South Africa. At 223 metres (732 ft), it was the tallest building in Africa for 46 years from its completion in 1973 until 2019. It is today the continent's fifth tallest building after The Leonardo, the Mohammed VI Tower in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Algiers Tower in Algeria and the Iconic Tower in Egypt. From completion until 1977 it was also the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere: the only South African building to have held that title. The foundations of the two buildings in the complex are 5 m (16 ft) in diameter and extend 15 m (49 ft) down to the bedrock, 35 m (115 ft) below street level. The building houses both offices and shops, and has over 46 per cent of the floor area below ground level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution Hill, Johannesburg</span> Building in South Africa

The Constitution Hill precinct is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. It is located in Braamfontein, Johannesburg near the western end of the suburb of Hillbrow. The complex consists of the Constitutional Court, the Old Fort Prison and museum.

Ferreirasdorp is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pageview, Johannesburg</span> Place in Gauteng, South Africa

Pageview is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Populated by non-whites, predominantly Indians, until the 1970s, it was one of two adjacent suburbs commonly known as Fietas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannesburg Park station</span> Central railway station in Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg Park Station is the central railway station in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the largest railway station in Africa. It is located between the Central Business District and Braamfontein, in the block bordered by Rissik, Wolmarans, Wanderers, and Noord Streets. Park Station lies on the main Witwatersrand railway line that runs East-West from Krugersdorp to Germiston. The first four stations to the east are Doornfontein, Ellis Park, Jeppe and George Goch Stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoërskool Voortrekker (Boksburg)</span> Public school in Boksburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Hoërskool Voortrekker is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in the municipality of Boksburg in the city of Ekurhuleni in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The academic school was established in 1920.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sytze Wierda</span> Dutch architect and engineer

Sytze Wopkes Wierda was a Dutch architect and engineer who played an important role in the architecture of the South African Republic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannesburg City Hall</span> Building in Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg City Hall is an Edwardian building constructed in 1914 by the Hawkey and McKinley construction company. The plan for the building was drawn in 1910 and construction was started in 1913 and finished in 1914. The Gauteng Provincial Legislature currently occupies the building. The City Hall has seen many political events on its steps from protest meetings to a bomb blast in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerk Street Mosque</span> Building in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Kerk Street Mosque, also known as the Jumah Mosque, is located in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Great Park Synagogue is an Orthodox synagogue situated in Houghton, Johannesburg. The present building was consecrated in 2000, after the congregation vacated their long-time home, the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street, Hillbrow in 1994, after eighty years. The Wolmarans Street synagogue came to be known as the city's mother synagogue and "the crown jewel of Orthodox Judaism in South Africa." All large-scale Jewish events in Johannesburg were held in the building, and throughout its existence it was the seat of the country's chief rabbi. Northward migration by congregation members led to the synagogue closing its doors in 1994. The relocated synagogue was built on the model of the Great Synagogue, whose own architecture in turn was inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Great Park Synagogue was also the original name of the synagogue on Wolmarans Street before it became the Great Synagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langlaagte Reformed Church</span> Church in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Langlaagte Reformed Church was the 28th congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) on the Transvaal and the second in Johannesburg after the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK) (1887). The congregation is well known as the spiritual home of the Langlaagte orphanage, later named the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home after Rev. Abraham Kriel, who founded it as pastor of Langlaagte.

References

  1. "Rissik Street Post Office". City of Johannesburg. 2002. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. "Phase one of the post office rebirth almost done". City Press. 2010. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  3. "Rissik Street Post Office restored to its former glory". City of Johannesburg. 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  4. "Courier Market". Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
Records
Preceded by
Unknown
Tallest building in Johannesburg
102 m (334.64 ft)

1897 – 1965
Succeeded by
New title Tallest building in South Africa
102 m (334.64 ft)

1910 – 1965
Preceded by
Unknown
Tallest building in Africa
102 m (334.64 ft)

1897 – 1965
Succeeded by