THE STORY OF MUTARE

HISTORY OF MUTARE

Few, if any, of the early gold miners who camped in the Penhalonga Valley so many years ago, could have guessed that their small encampment would lead to a frontier village and to the garden city that is Mutare today. More than 90 years ago, those intrepid men set up camp on Fort Hill. This could be called the first Umtali site, although no permanent settlement was established because of the mining activity in the area.

That site was evacuated in 1891 and a new site selected along the Umtali River. A police camp and Government buildings were erected, a township was declared and 300 stands surveyed.

That settlement, now known as Old Umtali, 10 miles north of the city, retained its importance for five years until March 26, 1896, when they were told that the Beira-Mutare railroad was to be continued through to Harare. People were promised that the line would touch Mutare, but after a survey, it was found that engineering difficulties made a direct line impossible. The town was moved, and compensation was to be given to the land's settlers. The settlers then moved to stands equal in size and relative situation to their existing holdings, and so Mutare was established for the third and last time.

The railway connection reached Mutare in February, 1898 - it remained the terminus until 1899 when the line reached Harare, thus establishing Mutare as the inland port to Zimbabwe.

Mutare was proclaimed a municipality in 1914 and became a city on October 1, 1971. The city has its own thermal power station and plentiful water supplies which come from Lake Alexander and Smallbridge Dam on the Odzani River. It is the administrative and commercial center to Manicaland and the tourist center for the province. Mutare has a population of over 93,000.

Using many of the raw materials of the Eastern Highlands, Mutare has become an important manufacturing center, making timber products, board, paper, and furniture; and has milling, tea, coffee and food processing factories.

MODERN URBAN MUTARE TODAY

The Civic Center complex, apart from being the administrative center of the city, contains the Courtauld Theatre, the Queen's Hall and the Turner Memorial Library. Across the road from the complex is the Mutare Post Office, which was opened in 1973. Visitors may see the Mayor's Parlour, the reception rooms and the Council Chamber during working hours.

The Turner Memorial Library, in the Civic Center complex, is a subscription lending library with a good variety of fiction and non-fiction.

The Mutare Museum was established in 1945 and in 1959 was taken over by the National Museums and Monuments as the third of its five national museums. The Museum houses the national collection of antiquities, firearms, edged weapons, and road transports. The display galleries include flora and fauna of Manicaland, zoology exhibits, transport items and a large "walk-in" aviary housing over 500 birds. Temporary displays are held regularly.

Part of the antiquities collection is displayed at Utopia House Museum, situated 2 miles away. This is furnished to depict the 1910-1920 period. The Museum is the home of the Phoenix Theatre who put on plays of a high standard.

The Municipal Camping/Caravan Park is situated 3 miles from Mutare near the top of Christmas Pass on the main road to Harare. The site enjoys a splendid view of Mutare and has cooking and laundry facilities.

The Municipal Swimming Pool is gained from Churchill Road and is open every day except Mondays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. It also closes for the winter from mid-May to Mid-August.

The pipe-dream of The Courtauld Players after the Second World War became a reality in 1955, mainly through the generosity of the theatre's two benefactors, the late Sir Stephen and Lady Courtauld. The theatre can boast backstage and lighting equipment equal to any amateur theatre in Africa. It is used by visiting professionals, individual performers and local societies.

At the Kingsley Fairbridge Memorial the statue of young Kingsley Fairbridge, his African companion, Jack, and his dog, Vic, was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother on July 8, 1953. It commemorates Fairbridge - poet, founder of the Fairbridge Farm Schools and traveller. His family house, Utopia, still stands in Mutare and has been made into the Fairbridge Museum.

From the top of Christmas Pass, almost opposite the Fairbridge Memorial, a short road leads to Chace's View, giving a panoramic view of Mutare and the Vumba Mountains.

The road to the Kingsley Fairbridge Memorial continues through the hills for 2 miles to a viewpoint near the television receiver. From this point, Mutare Heights, visitors can look over the entire city and surrounding hills and valleys. During the wet season the road should only be attempted by those in four-wheel drive vehicles.

The Cecil Kop Nature Reserve encompasses 4200 acres of scenic beauty, where one can see Zimbabwe's wildlife under natural conditions only 2 miles from the City Center, open every day of the year. Visitors may also drive around Thompson's Vlei section of the game park on the eastern borders of the city.

The Murahwa's Hill forms the backdrop to the Mutare Showgrounds, a nature reserve that is a naturalist's paradise. Rare birds, butterflies and trees are found in their natural environment. The hill is within easy reach of the car park behind the Showgrounds of from the sign-posted turn-off on the Old Christmas Pass Road.

The Cross Kopje dominates the Mutare skyline with its 33 foot high cross, which at night is permanently floodlit, making an impressive sight. The massive stone cross was erected by Colonel Methuen as a memorial to African soldiers who fell in the First World War.

The result of many years of hard work, the Aloe Gardens in Mutare's Main Park are becoming increasingly famous throughout the southern Africa region. The gardens contain about 10,000 aloes and numerous indigenous shrubs and cycads. The 243 species of aloe were collected from throughout Africa and Malagassey.

Lake Alexander is situated 25 miles north of Mutare on the Oazani Road which passes through Penhalonga. This site offers magnificent views, as well as thatched shelters, toilets, braai areas for campers, and is popular for fishing, yachting and rowing. Row boats are available for hire, and there is a yachting club at the lake. Smallbridge Dam, upstream from Lake Alexander on the Odzani River offers fishing and motor boating in scenic surroundings.

MANICALAND PROVINCE

The Manicaland Province provides opportunities, color, and variation to paint a picture of paradise in your mind's eye. It stretches north and south along Zimbabwe's eastern border with Mozambique. It is a region steeped in history, yet holding promise for the future.

The topography of Manicaland varies from the low-lying areas below 3000 feet and soars to Mt. Inyangani, the highest mountain in Zimbabwe at 8500 feet.

Within this area you can find the modern city of Mutare, numerous smaller centers with old world charm, cloud capped mountain peaks, and regions where miracles were wrought with irrigation, creating bright green oases in the surrounding dry, brown lowveld. Here the traveller will come across agriculture, forestry, thriving commerce and industry and mining. You can see flora and fauna, parks, gardens and scenic splendor. Here you can discover what man, nature, culture and civilization have jointly achieved.

ECONOMY AND TRADE

Mutare is Zimbabwe's fourth largest city, located in the Eastern Highlands, is the administrative center of the Manicaland Province, and is served by excellent rail and road systems. The city is strategically located geographically, so that it is ideally poised for future expansion. It is the inland port for Zimbabwe, linking to the Port of Beira along the east coast of Mozambique by rail and road.

Zimbabwe is recognized throughout the world as a leader in developing wildlife programs, resulting in thriving wildlife populations in the face of extinction due to man's invasion on the natural environment through development. Zimbabwe's Department of National Parks and Wild Life Management has developed a program that shifts responsibility for wildlife management from the state to local councils. The Communal Area Management Program for Indigenous Resources (known as Campfire) is a program based on the principle that the benefits from wildlife must go to those who pay the financial and social costs for coexisting with wild animals.

Modern forestry techniques have enabled Zimbabwean foresters to produce wood products for export from its vast wealth of natural resources. Reforestation and environmental concerns have fostered excellent forest management programs to develop ecosystem structures between man and environment.

Zimbabwe's strong agricultural development is changing the course of history for the southern African region. Advanced water resource development and modern irrigation techniques have generated substantial growth in agricultural production, which not only sustains Zimbabwe, but has enabled continued growth in exports throughout the world.

Mutare is a growing center of agriculture and timber development and has purchased substantial amounts of Oregon-made products. Among local businesses whose products have been seen in Zimbabwe are Crown Cork and Seal, Smithkline Beacham Clinical Laboratories, Merk, Sharp, and Dohme, and NCR Corporation. Other export items include machinery from Cummins Northwest, Inc. and Dresser Pump Division of Dresser Industries, Inc.

Mutare is surrounded by several agriculturally rich areas. Nearly all of the country's timber and coffee, all of its tea, and much of its deciduous fruit are grown in Manicaland. Many of Zimbabwe's horticultural exports, especially kiwi fruit, proteas, and other flowers, are grown in the area. Other important crops include maize, cotton, burley, tobacco, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, wheat, sisal, bananas, sugar, potatoes, and vegetables.

Zimbabwe's rich mineral resources include gold, platinum, chromite, coal, oil, natural gas, and other precious metals. Mining cooperatives have been developed by local residents engaging in day-to-day mining operations and administration. Opportunities for product development using these resources is greatly encouraged.

As a nation, Zimbabwe has demonstrated prosperity through nurturing peaceful coexistence in its multi-cultural population and natural environment. Revered throughout the southern African region as a leader in developing committed and meaningful international trade relationships, Zimbabwe offers a vast wealth of economic opportunity, as well as a model for peaceful coexistence in a multi-cultural community.