Loxton is a town situated in the Karoo region of South Africa, in the Northern Cape Province, at the intersection of the R63 Provincial Route with the R356 and R381 Regional Routes.
Loxton lies close to the Western Cape provincial border and is in one of the major wool-producing and one of the largest garlic-producing areas in South Africa.
Loxton falls within the Ubuntu Local Municipality and the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.
Afrikaans is the most widely spoken language in the town.
History
Loxton was originally a farm called Phizantefontein, which was owned by A.E. Loxton, after whom the town is named.
The farm was bought from him in 1899 by the Dutch Reformed Church for £7,500 so as to establish a parish for local farmers.
The town is believed to have been named after A.E Loxton due to a £50 donation he made to fund the salary of the town’s first Dutch Reformed Church minister.
The town’s first church building and schoolhouse were built in 1900. Tree-lined streets and flood irrigation channels that run alongside the town’s main roads were completed in the same year.
The town became a municipality in 1905 as it developed to serve the region’s sheep-farming community. The church that stands in the town’s centre was constructed in 1924.
Most of the small town was destroyed by a flash flood that caused the town’s dam to burst in March 1961. The town has since recovered from the disaster.