Beaufort West lies on N 1, the main road from Cape Town to Johannesburg, in the Great Karoo, of which it is the principal town. This is a stock-farming region, and Beaufort West is a merino-breeding center.
The town was founded in 1814. It was the birthplace of the famous heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard. Many prizes and
distinctions won by Barnard are displayed in the town's Museum, which stands near the little parsonage in which he lived as a child. Also of interest is the old Stadhuis, the first municipal building.
Sir John Molteno purchased a large tract of land in the Beaufort West area (at Nelspoort) in 1840, which he used for sheep farming. Beaufort West remained the hub of his sheep farming operations with the assistance of several cousins who had also emigrated from England. There are still Jackson descendants living in the Beaufort West area today.
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