Kenhardt is situated 710 km south of Upington and 74 km west of Putsonderwater, the nearest station on the De Aar – Upington railway. A bus service operates between Putsonderwater and Kenhardt. A special magistrate and border police force were sent to Kenhardt in 1868 to serve as a bulwark against the Koranas, and for a long time it was the most remote White settlement in the North-Western Cape. As a town it was founded on the Hartbees River in 1886, while the Ned. Geref. Kerk established a parish there in 1889. Nothing is known about the origin of the name Kenhardt, although half a dozen untenable theories have been offered. A village management board was established in 1887, attaining municipal status in 1909. Kenhardt is an important road junction, as no fewer than nine roads branch from it: to Upington, Keimoes and Kakamas in the north; to Brandvlei, Vanwyksvlei and Williston in the south; to Putsonderwater in the east; and to Pofadder in the west. The Hartbees River, with its many sweet-thorn trees, provides a green belt. The Rooiberg Dam provides irrigation, while water for domestic use is supplied from wells and boreholes, and electricity by the municipal power-station.
