History
Gold was found in the area in the early 1880s, including by Auguste 'French Bob' Roberts at Concession Creek in 1883. In June 1884 Graham Barber and his cousins reported payable gold where Umvoti Creek enters the De Kaap Valley, and the township was proclaimed on 24 July 1884 and named after him. The boom brought the Transvaal's first stock exchange, hotels and music halls, but most diggers soon left for the Witwatersrand. A rail link from Kaapmuiden followed in 1896, a British concentration camp was sited here during the Anglo-Boer War, and Barberton became a municipality in 1904.
Getting there
Barberton is about 45 km from Mbombela via the R40, 54 km from Kaapmuiden via the R38 (both linking to the N4), and 78 km from Badplaas on the R38. A 42 km tarred road over the Saddleback Pass leads to the Josefsdal/Bulembu border with Eswatini. Johannesburg is about 360-400 km away; Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is near Mbombela and Kruger's Malelane gate is about an hour away.
Weather & climate
Subtropical Lowveld climate with about 755 mm of rain a year, mostly in summer. Summers (Nov-Mar) are hot with days of 25-32 °C, nights of 15-20 °C and afternoon thunderstorms; autumn to spring days are 18-26 °C with nights of 7-15 °C and little rain.