Cornelia is a town situated close to the R103 Regional Route in the northern region of the Free State province of South Africa.
Overview
| Country: | South Africa |
| Province: | Free State |
| District: | Fezile Dabi |
| Municipality: | Mafube |
| Founded: | 1876 |
| Named After: | Cornelia Maria Theresa Mulder |
| Total Area: | 8.0 km² (3.1 sq mi) |
| Population: | 2,964 (2011) |
| Population Density: | 370/km² (960/sq mi) |
| Time Zone: | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal Code (street): | 9850 |
| PO Box: | 9850 |
| Area Code: | 058 |
Geography and history
Cornelia is situated approximately 393 km north-east of Bloemfontein and 63.4 km south-west of Standerton (which is located in the Gert Sibande district of Mpumalanga province).
J.D. Odendaal bought the farm “Sugarloaf” (known as Tafelkop) for a sum of R2,000. They settled there in 1876. At that time it was in the Harrismith district. There were no boundary fences and wild dogs, warthogs and wildebeest were plentiful in the open grassveld.
In 1894, the town was named after Cornelia Maria Theresa Mulder, the wife of former Free State President Francis William Reitz.
Many archaeological finds have been dug up in this area including interesting fossils such as donkey-sized pigs
