Kolar Gold Fields - Birth of The City

Birth of The City

With the growth of the Gold Mines and the resulting demand for labour, people from the North and South Arcot districts of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor, Madhanapalli and Ananthapur districts of Andhra Pradesh, were settled around the various shafts. In course of time these habitations expanded to merge into each other to form the outer reaches of the town of KGF. In the core of the town were the families of British engineers, geologists and mine supervisors who lived a grand colonial lifestyle complete with golf course, tennis court, club with dance halls and bars, cottages and Bungalows with gardens and quarters for the employees and churches and chapels. The ruins of these structures and some memorabilia continue to exist even today. Many places in the area have names reminiscent of the raj. The two main townships which came up subsequently in KGF were Robertsonpet and Andersonpet, named after two British officers in the mines.

Subsequent establishment of the BEML public sector enterprise brought further expansion to the city providing employment to existing populations while also bringing in new populations that added to the cosmopolitan nature of KGF.

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