7 and served as an all boys school until 1911 when the Headmaster, TD Wilson made a determined effort to introduce education levels higher than standard six.
Although this was met with some opposition from parents, the boys’ and girls’ Schools were integrated and divided into junior and high schools, both being co-educational. During this same period a Convent was opened in Sutherland Street and in 1909 The Order of St Dominic bought the beautiful property of Sir Charles Gubbins and opened the St Dominics Academy.
THE MODERN ERA
By 1910, many problems with regard to public amenities had been sorted out. A dam had been constructed on the Ncandu River, a waterworks established and electricity was being made available. Bridges were built across the Jordan Spruit and the tree planting programme begun in 1898 completed. Newcastle’s potential as an industrial centre was seriously considered but the onset of the Second World War put a damper on things and it was not until 1918 that Mr JK Eaton decided to build a Steel Works.
Within a few years Newcastle Iron and Steel works Ltd was established. Between 1920 and 1926 the first blast furnace to be erected in South Africa had been completed, the project was acquired by Union Steel Corporation (SA). By 1937 African Metals had purchased the Newcastle Works and by 1945, a second blast furnace was operating. Some 150 000 tons per annum of various grades of pig iron were being produced.
With the depression came hardship and one of the government projects to eleviate the lack of of work was the re-routing of the railway line from Newcastle to Charlestown in order to do away with the “reverses” at Ingogo that caused such much delay and limited the traffic load. This new line involved the construction of a number of long tunnels, work that was largely carried out by manual labour and a little town of corrugated iron buildings sprung up near the present Ingogo village. Fondly known to its residents as “Blikkies Dorp” its school is alleged to have had as many as 450 children.
As a result of the increased steel production a period of expansion came to the town. This expansion was of great financial benefit. Durban Falkirk Iron Co. Ltd. was in production by 1948 and was employing some 200 people.
Throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s the growth was steady but slow. In May 1969 the government announced that the third Iscor Works would be established in Newcastle and as a direct result of Iscor, Newcastle developed rapidly as an industrial town and prominent growth point in Northern Natal. Later Karbochem established a plant in Newcastle and a vigorous marketing campaign by the municipality attracted a wealth of investment from the far East. Today, in addition to the Zulu, Afrikaner, and English speaking communities, Newcastle has a large Chinese population that includes people from Taiwan (Republic of China), and Hong Kong.
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