It was in the heady days of the great diamond rush in the year 1877 that Britstown came into being. Fortune hunters paused here in their frenzied dash to the fabulous diamond field, and a settlement mushroomed to provide fresh horses, fodder, refreshment and accommodation. Soon even a concertina vituoso made music for happy dancers lubricated by the local brew. First the Fuller and Gibson coaches and then others stopped here. By the time Britstown gained municipal status in January, 1889, a railway line already snaked accross the Karoo to carry would-be diamond diggers through to Kimberley.