Barberton
Barberton lies 36 km south of Nelspruit and has a colonial backwater charm, a handful of historical sights, tropical vegetation and an attractive setting in a basin surrounded by mountains. The town began its urban existence after Auguste Robert (French Bob) discovered gold in 1883 on a nearby farm. Despite his attempts to keep the news to himself, other diggers realized something was up when French Bob began building a canal to his claims. The following year, Graham Barber discovered another incredibly rich gold reef and got his name hitched to the town at a riotous christening using a bottle of gin. An influx of shopkeepers, hoteliers, barmen and prostitutes and even ministers of religion soon joined the diggers in the growing frontier town, which consisted of tents, tin, thatch and mud, with nearly every second building functioning as a boozing joint.
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