Editing Bloemfontein (section)

===Orange Free State (1854–1902)===
[[File:Statue de Brand à Bloemfontein.jpg|left|thumb|233x233px|Early 20th century photo of a statue of the 19th century President [[Johannes Brand]] of the [[Orange Free State]]]]
The [[Orange Free State]] was an independent [[Boer Republics|Boer Republic]] in [[southern Africa]] during the second half of the 19th century. Extending between the [[Orange River|Orange]] and [[Vaal River|Vaal]] rivers, its borders were determined by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the [[Orange River Sovereignty]], with a seat of a [[British Resident]] in Bloemfontein.

As the capital of the Orange Free State Republic, the growth and maturing of the republic resulted in the development of Bloemfontein. The city constructed numerous public buildings that remain in use today, facilitated by the republic's governance and compensation from the British for the loss of the diamond-rich [[Griqualand|Griqua Land]] area.<ref>David Johnson, "Griqua Land Claims in Southern Africa, 1874-1998", in David L. Eng and David Kazanjian, eds., "Loss: The Politics of Mourning" (Berkeley: Univ. of CA Press, 2003), 283–88. {{ISBN|0520232364}}</ref> The old Orange Free State's presidential residence, the [[Old Presidency]], is currently a museum and cultural space in the city.

A railway line was built in 1890 connecting Bloemfontein to [[Cape Town]]. The railway line provided a centrally located [[Bloemfontein railway station|railway station]] and proved critical to the British in occupying the city later.

The writer [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] was born in the city on 3 January 1892. However, his family left [[Orange Free State]] (now [[Free State (province)|Free State province]], South Africa) following the death of his father, [[Arthur Tolkien]], when Tolkien was three (1895).<ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |title=Tolkien: A Biography |title-link=J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-04-928037-3 |location=New York |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter}}</ref> He recorded that his earliest memories were of "a hot country".<ref>Tolkien: "though my earliest memories of are a hot country [...] I was shipped home [England] in 1895". Biographical sketch to Houghton Mifflin Co. (July 1955), in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien", ed. Humphrey Carpenter (London: Allen Unwin, 1981; London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 165. {{ISBN|0544363795}}</ref>

In 1899, the city was the site of the [[Bloemfontein Conference]], which failed to prevent the outbreak of the [[Second Boer War]]. The conference was a final attempt to avert a war between Britain and the [[South African Republic]], and its failure set the stage for war, which broke out on 11 October 1899.

On 13 March 1900, following the [[Battle of Paardeberg]], the British captured the city and built a [[Second Boer War concentration camps|concentration camp]] nearby to house [[Boers|Boer]] women and children. In 1913, the [[National Women's Monument]] was constructed on the outskirts of the city to commemorate all Boer civilians who died in concentration camps during the war.<ref>Grundlingh, Albert. "The National Women's Monument. The Making and Mutation of Meaning in Afrikaner Memory of the South African War." Cuthbertson, Gregor; Grundlingh, Albert M.; and Suttie, Mary-Lynn (Hrsg.). "Writing a Wider War. Rethinking Gender, Race, and Identity in the South African War, 1899–1902". Athens, Ohio:Ohio University Press. 2002. pp.&nbsp;18–36.</ref><ref>Marschall, Sabine. "Serving Male Agendas. Two National Women's Monuments in South Africa". Women's Studies 33 (2004). pp.&nbsp;1009–1033.</ref>

The hill in town was named Naval Hill after the [[Naval artillery|naval guns]] brought in by the British to fortify the position against attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/other-information/16-other-information/1844-blockhouses|title=Anglo Boer War - Blockhouses|first=David|last=Biggins|website=www.angloboerwar.com}}</ref>