On the 8th October 1497 Vasco Da Gama Landed in St. Helena Bay at what is now the town of St. Helena,
26 Km from Velddrif. A monument stands there today.
In 1652 the Dutch started exploring the West Coast and in 1667 a ship called the Buydegom and two years later,
the Grundel, were sent to the area. The Gouden Buys with its crew much weakened by scurvey ran aground
near the river mouth in 1693. A boat named the Dageraad was sent to take off the silver she carried but supposedly two chests were never recovered and is believed to lie near the river mouth in the bay.
In 1715 The Dutch East India Company allocated loan farms to settlers and one of these, Theunis Smit,
named Velddrif after a drift used to get cattle through the river.
The son of a German mercenary, Carl Stephan traded from a ship named the Nerie berthed at Rooibaai which became
the Loading Place and later Laaiplek. His family graveyard can be seen right at the entrance to St. Helena Bay.
He became a major land and ship owner.
A ship that he bought on auction and refurbished was immortalised in the Cape folk song Daar Kom Die Alibama.
She would play between Laaiplek and Cape Town with grain, hides, tallow, dried fish and reeds from the river.
These reeds would be needed for the ceremonial marriage bed without which no self-respecting Malay girl would get married,
so it was with delight that the yearning groom would spy the Alibama come over the sea.
Beacause of the shortage of fresh water the first village in the area was established at Olifantskraal
which had a hotel, Post Office, Police station and Market. Lawrence Green brought his boat here from Cape Town
to enjoy the excellent sailing conditions, as recounted in “On Wings Of Flame”.
A ferry or “Pont” across the river was established in 1899 and was replaced by the Carinus Bridge in 1950. This bridge was the ending point for the Berg River Canoe Marathon for many years. The first year that KWV took over the sponsorship they were horrified when a fisherman was thrown through the window of the bar at the Riviera Hotel in Velddrif and for some years the race ended at Port Owen, which played havoc with the records. The finishing line was later restored to the Bridge at Velddrif.
The road from Laaiplek (first known as The Loading Place), used to flood in winter and so farmers from upriver would leave their produce at the top of the slope down to Laaiplek and this became "Totheuwel" and is now where Port Owen starts.
Langebaan Lagoon was formed by changing sea levels in pre-historc times so it is a purely fresh water lagoon. A female footprint was found in sandstone dating back 500 000 years and is the earliest human footprint on record.
Saldanha Bay was mistakenly named after Antonio de Saldanha by Juris van Spilbergen who thought he had reached Table Bay, then named Agoada de Saldanha. Saldanha Bay, as the largest natural harbour in the world would have been the site for Cape Town except that it lacked fresh water so Table Bay with its terrible storms that wiped out many ships was chosen instead.
Schaapeneiland was used by the French for storing whale oil and seal hides and then by the Dutch for keeping sheep on. Norwegians established a whaling staion at Donkergat which operated until the 1960s.
Langebaan was the site of the only recorded battle between mounted light infantry and a warship when a Boer patrol fired shots at a British warship. The ship fired cannon which demolished a chicken coop and the Boer withdrew.
The confederate raider The Alabama was a visitor and one of her officers lies buried here.