Val

The town of Waterval was established as a railway station which sits on the main railway line between Johannesburg and Durban in 1896. The original name "Waterval" was changed to "Val”
St Francis Church
The Church of St. Francis of Assisi, was built in 1964. Mrs. Helen Lawrence's design was used. In 1970 the church was struck by lightning and burnt down. In 1971 it was rebuilt and a vestry was added.
Val Hotel
Val Hotel. Circa 1896. It seems that the hotel came when the rail came. The hotel is situated across the street from the train station. Today this is a guest house.
ABW gathering Val Hotel
The hotel room – This room is within the Val hotel. There were skirmishes in Val during the Anglo-Boer War. In this building, the original Val Hotel, on 6 April 1902, General Louis Botha met with a number of Boer commandants. He was on his way by train to a meeting in Klerksdorp with other Boer leaders to initiate negotiations aimed at ending the Anglo Boer War. The discussions in the Val Hotel were to dispel rumors that the Boers were about to surrender.
Whiskey Train derailment
The Whisky train – Not far from Val on the train line to Greylingstad the Boers derailed a goods train on 29 December 1900. This was just west of a small bridge. The goods consist of various eats and a variety of liquor. The Boers and the Brits from the train help themselves to the Whisky, the war forgotten for a while. The train was afterwards known as the Whisky train.