Railway Station and Post Office, Point Road, Durban

This building was erected in 1900 as part of a general upgrade by the Natal Railways. It replaced an earlier structure built between 1876 and 1878 when the original railway line between Durban and Pinetown was laid. It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 7 March 1986. The Point Railway Station, one of Durban's numerous Railway Station's, was initially built of a basic iron shed with a raised siding for the convenience of passengers. This Station was located where the Historic Fort Victoria was located and the latter Custom House. Ships entering the Bay of Natal would anchor along the inner shoreline of the Point, and from here passengers would disembark. What was at first a sandy shoreline where passengers were carried ashore by strong Zulu Men from Longboats. Later the development of projecting wooden wharfage and eventually transformed into St. Pauls Wharf. The Town of Durban was situated several kilometres away to the North of the Bay, and before the Railway, passengers and freight had to be transported in carts and wagons through the Point bush along rustic sandy tracks to the plain on which Durban was built, then across the bridge at Cato’s Creek and on into the burgeoning Town. Later, when the railway was the preserve of the Natal Government Railways, the station was moved to a location further to the North of the Point. In 1890 a single story brick and mortar Building was built at the corner of Point Road and Southhampton Street. This building acted as a Post Office too, and as Durban grew, a second story was added to the structure.