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A historic postcard of Kalk Bay
Pre-colonial history[edit]
The history of the Kalk Bay area is difficult to separate from that of the wider False Bay region. It is likely that the area was inhabited by the Khoekhoe people for thousands of years before European settlement. An investigation of skeletons found in the coastal region has shown that the stature of these prehistoric people was within the range of modern Khoisan people. Middens found under cliff overhangs in the mountains above Kalk Bay indicate these sites may have been used for shelter, and archaeological evidence continues to be exposed through animal activity in the area.
European settlement and whaling[edit]
The village of Kalk Bay was likely established by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. The first written mention of the name Kalkbaai (Lime Bay) was by Governor Simon van der Stel in 1687, during a three-week expedition to sound and chart False Bay. The name is derived from the Dutch and Afrikaans words for the deposits of mussel shells which were burnt by early settlers to produce lime.
The early fishing population consisted primarily of slaves from Bengal, Indonesia, and Ceylon. They gained their freedom in 1807, when slavery was made illegal in the British Empire. This community was largely Muslim, leading to the construction of a mosque in 1846.
Under British rule, whaling became a major industry. Beginning around 1806, it drove settlement in the area and became the third-highest income-earning industry in the Cape, behind agriculture and wine-making. The whaling stations were relocated from Simon's Town to the coastline between Kalk Bay and St James after residents complained about the smell. By 1902, whaling at Kalk Bay had ceased as whale stocks became depleted.
Filipino community[edit]
The population was bolstered by the arrival of Filipino fishermen. According to local oral history, the first arrivals may have been as early as 1839, when a fisherman named Staggie Fernandez swam ashore from a ship in Simon's Town and walked to Kalk Bay. Other accounts state that a shipwrecked Filipino crew settled in Kalk Bay in the mid-1840s. The community grew significantly in the 1850s when refugees fled the Philippines to escape anti-Spanish riots. The predominantly Catholic Filipino community is considered the origin of the separation between Kalk Bay and St James, as the latter contains the area's only Catholic church.
Railway and harbour development[edit]
The Kalk Bay train line in 1883
The Southern Line railway was extended to Kalk Bay in 1883, linking the village to Cape Town and allowing fish to be transported efficiently to the city. The arrival of the railway, however, jeopardized the practice of launching small fishing boats from the beach. This, combined with the use of larger fishing vessels in False Bay, increased pressure to construct an artificial harbour.
Construction on the harbour began on 6 March 1913, under the supervision of engineer-in-charge C. Le S. Furlong. On 7 June 1913, the Minister of Railways and Harbours, Henry Burton, laid the foundation stone. The project was largely completed by 1918, resulting in an 8-acre basin with a breakwater, a fish-landing quay, and a slipway. A secondary mole was added between 1937 and 1939.
Apartheid era[edit]
The "Fisherman Flats" from the harbour, identifiable by their red roofs and tan colouring
The Slums Act of 1934, which was often applied to advance segregation, led to the demolition of houses in an area of Kalk Bay known as Die Land. This housing was largely inhabited by the Coloured fishing population. The community successfully fought for replacement housing to be built in the same location, leading to the construction of a set of flats between 1941 and 1945, colloquially known as the "Fishermen's Flats".
In 1967, Kalk Bay was proclaimed a "White Area" under the Group Areas Act. This led to significant protest and a historically unique reversal: the fishing community was permitted to remain in the flats, as they had to stay close to their boats. While a 15-year deadline was set for their eventual removal, it was never acted upon, and most of the population remained. Roughly a quarter of families were evicted.
