OLD PICS
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The earliest traces of habitation have been found at Cape Hangklip. Stone hand-axes from the Neanderthal era dating back 20,000 years have been unearthed.
Koisan strandlopers left their fish traps and kitchen middens along the Beach from Kleinmond to Hawston as well as in the mountain caves bordering the seashore. The area was isolated because of the Kogelberg mountains that served as a barrier to the European expansion in the Western Cape.
For two centuries this area became the stronghold of outlaws - or "drosters"- runaway slaves, criminals, and the remnants of Koisan tribes which had been decimated by measles.
In 1739, a grazing farm was granted to Andries Grove' near the present day Betty's Bay. Never-the-less the area continued to be mostly uninhabited by humans though by accounts given by William Paterson, who travelled this region from somerset West to Bot river in 1771, wild life as hyena, zebra, bontebok, buffalo and eland roamed free.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, a small fishing community had established themselves at Jongensklip - today the small fishing harbour in Kleinmond.
It was at about the same time in the 1860's that the area became a favourite holiday spot for the surrounding farmers.
Farmers from caledon and nearby areas began making an annual pilgrimage to camp near the Palmiet lagoon and the klein Bot river mouth near to where the Hotel stands today. John Pitt only build the hotel in 1939.
In 1910 the original Lamloch Farm was subdivided and the brothers Kaplan bought the portion upon which they laid out the present town of Kleinmond. The industrial area in Kleinmond bears the name Robert Kaplan, one of the original owners of the land.
Captain Frank Cook built and owned "Southern Cross Whaling Station" in 1907. (Apparently the original title deeds were in the name of Captain Frank Herbert Cook.) It was situated in the Pringle Bay and Hangklip area. The ruins of the station is in the Southern end of the H.F.Vorwoerd Coastal Reserve and the old slipway can be seen at Stony Point.
Four little whaling ships were stationed there. Two of them named the "Uno" and the "Balena."