Laingsburg, South Africa

In the 1870s, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno oversaw a massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway system.[2] The route (chosen by the prime minister with a map, pen and ruler) ran past a farm named Vischkuil-aan-de-Buffelsrivier (fish pond on the Buffalo River) which a man called Stephanus Greeff then bought for the purpose of development.[3]

The line was completed in 1878 and a small siding named Buffelsrivier was built at the farm. With railway access, a town soon began developing. It was soon renamed Nassau to avoid confusion with Buffalo River in East London, and finally changed to the name Laingsburg, after John Laing who was Commissioner of Crown Lands at the time. Originally the town was to be called Laing's Town, but the Afrikaans speaking locals soon started calling it "Links Toon", which means left toe, thus the town was renamed "Laingsburg".

The town was laid out in 1881 and became a municipality in 1904. The Laingsburg Local Municipality has since been expanded to include Bergsig, Goldnerville and Matjiesfontein.

On 25 January 1981, in Laingsburg's centennial year, the larger part of the town was swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the Great Karoo. After a cloud burst to the north-eastern hinterland, south of the Komsberg, a massive wall of water rushed down the Buffels River and swept away everything it encountered in its way. Animals, humans and their possessions were swept along and later dumped under meters of silt. Hydrologists estimate that a flood in Laingsburg of this magnitude has a recurrence interval of once, on average, every 100 years.

Before the flood, rain initially started with a light drizzle that was welcomed by farmers in the area, since it didn't rain often. But, the soil of the area is of such a nature that it can't absorb much rainwater. The consequence is that water drains directly into the rivers. Water built up in the Baviaans, Wilgerhout and Buffels Rivers and their confluence at the little town. The rivers quickly grew from normally small streams to a roaring wall of water almost 6 m high. Within hours the whole town was under water and residents had to fight for their lives.

During the flood ' The Great Trek Monument', which was erected in Laingsburg in the main street in 1938 to honour the 100 year anniversary of the Great Trek, was washed out. After the flood the biggest part of the monument was recovered but the pedestal of the monument disappeared. In June 2015 Andries Gertse recovered by chance the pedestal along the Buffelsriver at the Railroad Bridge. The monument was re-erected without the original pedestal but with a new one on a hill on the Buffelsriver next to the N1. With the recovery of the original pedestal the history of the Monument is completed. The municipality decided to place the pedestal in the Flood Museum. It is a great reminder of exactly how strong the water was, to be able to break the monument in two, and carry the pieces kilometers down river.

104 people died in the Laingsburg flood, and only 32 bodies were ever recovered. Out of the 184 houses in town, only 21 remained untouched by the water, the others were either completely destroyed, or so badly damaged that they had to be rebuilt.[4]