The History of Langebaan

The unique setting of Langebaan attracted settlers and visitors from the earliest days of the Cape Colony. The first person to build a cottage on the shore of the lagoon was British sailor William Smith, whose descendants still live there. In the 1820s Governor Lord Charles Somerset built a hunting lodge on the farm Oostewal (eastern shore) opposite the lagoon. The buildings are still in good repair.

The village was formally founded around 1870 on a farm originally known as Geitenmelksfontein (goat's milk fountain). The name Langebaan (long track) is thought to be derived from the long winding road behind the dunes, from the original homestead to Lynch Point.