Prince Albert

Farmers in this area were granted loan farms as early as the 1760s. These farms were set flush against the northern slopes of the Swartberg Mountains. The original settlement was initially called Albertsberg after the founder, but was later changed, in honour of Queen Victoria's son, to Prince Albert.

In 1890 alluvial nuggets of gold were discovered and a frantic gold rush started at Prince Albert. A tent town sprang up overnight but the gold rush soon petered out and the prospectors disappeared almost as fast as they arrived. The Old Water Mill at the southern entrance of Prince Albert has been in the Albert's Family for over a century and was recently declared a National Monument.

The town has what has been dubbed the 'Prince Albert Gable', a concave/convex Dutch-style gable that is only found in this town.

The local hotel has four allegedly haunted paintings. Two are scenes from the 1916 Delville Wood Battle where human figures are said to disappear only to reappear a few days later. The other two paintings are of a Victorian woman who murdered her husband. As she sits beside the pool in which the body of her husband lies, the expression on her face is said to change from time to time.

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