Laingsburg is a town located in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is a relatively large agricultural town in the semi-arid Great Karoo. It was partially destroyed in a flash flood in 1981. History Following the arrival of the early Dutch, German and Huguenot pioneer settlers in 1727–1728, the area was settled by 18 Trekboer farmer families who trekked up from Still bay and Swellendam, led by the Meiring, Bezuidenhout, Botha, van Rooyen, van Heerden, Holtzhausen, Eksteen, Du Plouuy, Roussouw, Joubert and Viljoen families, who established sheep and orange farms in the area. In 1738 the settlement raised a Commando militia platoon of 20 Riflemen, 5 Mounted Riflemen, 2 field guns and 8 gunners. It was led by Commandant Cornelius Steyn and Field Cornet Petrus Holtzhausen till the 1760s. In the 1760s the Commando organised long range punitive and reconnaissance raids deep into Beaufort West and Nelspoort to recover cattle and sheep. In 1774 the settlement sent an advance commando platoon under the leadership of Veldkornet Bronkhorst of 30 Mounted Riflemen alognwith Mounted Artillerymen carrying two 80 mm field cannons to scout the area around Graaff Reinet where they engaged in a skirmish with 500 native tribes and defeated them. They also briefly clashed with a VOC Commissioned platoon of similar strength led by Field Cornet Arnoldus van der Merwe and Kapitein Gerhardus Swanepoel that trekked up from Oudtshoorn. Eventually 15 families from Laingsburg, amounting to 162 Whites, were among the first pioneer farmers to settle in Graaff Reinet in 1778, including the van der Westhuizen, van Heerden, van Zyl, Bronkhorst, Blignaut, Steyn, Holtzhausen, Reynecke, Eksteen, Engelbrecht, Viljoen, Rousouw and Terre Blanche families. Railway origins In the 1870s, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno oversaw a massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway system. The route (chosen by the prime minister with a map, pen and ruler) ran past a farm named Vischkuil-aan-de-Buffelsrivier (fishing pond on the Buffalo River) which a man called Stephanus Greeff then bought for the purpose of development. Name changes The line was completed in 1878 and a small siding named Buffelsrivier was built at the farm. With railway access, a town soon began developing. It was soon renamed Nassau to avoid confusion with Buffalo River in East London, and finally changed to the name Laingsburg, after John Laing who was Commissioner of Crown Lands at the time. Originally the town was to