Nestled on the banks of the Wilge River, Frankfort grew from a Free State farm into the capital of Mafube Local Municipality. Its story is one of frontier planning, presidential patronage, wartime loss, and quiet resilience — still visible in sandstone civic buildings and a church clock that outlived fire.
Origins on Roodepoort
The town was laid out in 1869 on the farm Roodepoort. Albert van Gordon named it Frankfurt after Frankfurt-am-Main, linking a Wilge River settlement to a famous European city on another river. Municipal status followed in 1896. Today Frankfort anchors Mafube together with Villiers, Cornelia and Tweeling.
Brand Street & the NG Kerk
Brand Street — named for Sir Johannes Brand, President of the Orange Free State — is known today as JJ Hadebe Street. In 1883 Brand laid the cornerstone of the NG Kerk. During the Anglo-Boer War the church was burnt and the town devastated; the clock survived. The rebuilt church was inaugurated in 1918, restoring a landmark of faith and civic memory.
National monuments
Frankfort’s heritage streetscape includes buildings recognised as National Monuments: the Magistrate’s office, the Police Station, and the Post Office. Together they speak to the administrative role the town has played for more than a century.