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The courses of the mountain streams and rivers have determined
the lay out of Cape Town's first streets. The Heerengracht, now
Adderley Street, linked the Castle, jetty and Company's Garden.
Other streets appeared, unpaved and uneven such as Elephant Street,
Garden Street, Mountain Street and Sea Street, later to become
Strand Street. The most sizeable buildings were those built for the
Dutch East India Company's purposes, such as a barn for storing
grain, warehouses and mills for grinding corn, stables, a Garden
House (later to become the Governor's Residence) and a hospital. At
the end of the 17th century Cape Town had about 100 private
dwellings. The first home built in 1664 on the corner of Sea Street
was occupied by the Company's baker, Thomas Chr. Mulder. The Dutch
Reformed Church was founded in 1700 and the building completed in
1704.
At the end of the 17th century Cape Town numbered about
640 adults, 605 children and 891 slaves. A city grid plan had been
established, reinforced by the walled canals or grachten.
Until 1702 Strand Street was known as Sea Street after which names
such as Wide Beach Street (Breete Strand Straat) and Wide Ascending
Street (Breete Opgaande Straat) occurred. Strand Street was always
the widest of the old streets and would soon become one of the most
fashionable streets in Cape Town. Sea Street, always being the closest
to the Bay, officially became Strand Street in 1790. In that year
the naming of streets officially started and name boards were hammered
to the corner houses.
Strand Street would remain a favourite residential area for
prosperous burghers until the mid-19th century. By that time the Heerengracht
was fast becoming the commercial and business centre of Cape Town.
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