Eloff Street


Eloff Street is a major street in the Johannesburg city center and the first street to be named during the city survey. It was named after Jan Eloff, the city's second mining commissioner and successor to Carl von Brandis. In the early days Eloff Street was the shopping mecca of the growing town. It ran from Park Station to the Market Square, now Beyers Naudé Square.

History

With the survey of Johannesburg by surveyor Jos de Villiers, the first street was called Eloff Street. Jan Eloff was the second mining commissioner appointed by Volksraad in Johannesburg in other to control the claims in the city. FC Eloff who was his younger brother was married to daughter of Paul Kruger had a suspicion that there was gold in the East and in June 1886 bought Weltevreden farm for £350.

Monopoly

With the release of the original South African version of the board game Monopoly, Eloff Street was the most valuable property in the four cities that were part of the game at the time: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Durban. At that time, players could buy property in Eloff Street for R400. In the latest local version, that of 2002, the traditional inner city properties were exchanged for more exclusive properties and the streets in the four cities were replaced by cities, neighborhoods and landmarks. Eloff Street is still part of the game, but not as desirable as it was in 1963.