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Let’s take a walk down memory lane with these images of what Cape Town used to look like, with most of the images dating back as far as the early 1900s.

Here are 32 pics that are sure to bring back a sense of nostalgia for many:

Picture: St James Hotel – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Jacob’s Ladder St James – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Steam locomotive at Simons Town in the mid-1920s / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Arrival of the first trackless trams at Cape Town docks in the mid-1930s / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Beach and bathing pools in Kalk Bay – undated  / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Kalk Bay Beach – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Union Castle steamship Raglan Castle in Cape Town around 1901. The ship was retired from sailing in 1904 and used as floating storage / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Roggebaai beach during the early 1930s /Scott Atkinson collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Long buses during the 1980s and 1990s at Cape Town station / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: A rugby match played between England and Cape Colony during 1891 /Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: The Cable Car – undated possibly 60s / Martin Greshoff collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Construction of Cape Towns’ 2nd Grand Station completed in 1875 / Geoffrey de Vartek – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Winter flooding along Adderley Street during 1904 / Hilton Teper collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Cape Town pier before the outbreak of WW1 – fishing boats on the beach at Roggebaai / Harry Valentine –  Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Somerset West main road during the early 1960s / Johannes Koring collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Beach Road Promenade – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Mouille Point Light House – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Demolition of Cape Town pier around 1939 / Hilton Teper collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Political activists in Cape Town during the early 1900s / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Camps Bay tram terminus 1900 /Janine Pedersen collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Newlands Rugby Stadium – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Newlands Swimming pool – undated / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: The Firemans’ Arms Pub & Hotel is one of the oldest pubs in Cape Town – 1864 / Harry Valentine – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Military parade in Durban Road with the Wynberg Dutch Reform Church in the background – 1910 / Martin Greshoff collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Wreck of the Antipolis between Camps Bay and Hout Bay in 1977  /  Etienne Du Plessis collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: The Huguenot Tunnel during construction – undated /  Concor (Harry Valentine) – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: HMS Vengeance arriving in Cape Town waters – 1948 / Michael Fortune – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Chapmans Peak looking towards Hout Bay – undated / Martin Greshoff collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Sea Point Pavillion -1977 / Martin Greshoff collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: St. George’s Street during the mid-1970s / David O’Leary collection (Harry Valentine) – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: Christmas lighting along Adderley Street in the early 1960s / Johannes Koring collection – Cape Town Historic Society
Picture: CENTAUR ‘dressed’ for her departure on her last voyage from Cape Town to Singapore in 1964 / Norman Stewart – Cape Town Historic Society

Also Read:

Where to picnic with a view in and around Cape Town

Picture: Etienne Du Plessis collection – Cape Town Historic Society

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