The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889.

[2] It lies at an elevation of 5,429 feet (1,655 m), and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the pass through the Drakensberg known as Laing's Nek.

[2] Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust (Nation's Rest).

Visiting officials and army officers described the conditions of the camp as poor, though it suffered a death rate below the Transvaal average.

[5] A memorial exists in Volkrust town square to the Boer women and children who died in the camp.