Kokstad is named after the Griqua chief Adam Kok III who settled here. In the 1860s the Griqua tribe which lived in Griquatown split and under the leadership of Adam Kok III, descendent of the ex-cook who established the tribe, one section first moved to Philipolis, then across the Drakensberg to the vicinity of the modern Kokstad.
They named the mountain where they settled Mount Currie after Sir Walter Currie who gave support to their effort to settle here. The Griquas settled on the steep mountain slope, living in mud huts. When, in 1869, the Reverend William Dower was asked by the Griqua to establish a mission, he agreed on condition that they resettle in a more suitable place on the banks of the Mzimhlava River. The town was built at this location. The first hotel in town, the Royal, was opened by an Afro-American who also started a newspaper (Kokstad Advertiser) in 1881. Kokstad became a municipality in 1892. The original Kokstadt settlement of 1863 can be visited about 5Km from town off the Swartberg road. Accommodation in Kokstad
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