The town was founded in 1848 as a mission station on the farm Backhouse, by the Reverend Isaac Hughes. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them the right to establish a town.
It was named after General Sir Percy Douglas, Lieutenant Governor of the CapeColony. Near the confluence of the Orange River and its main tributary, the VaalRiver, Douglas is a thriving, fast-growing town surrounded by a wealth of agricultural and stockfarming ventures fed by two of South Africa's greatest rivers.
Agricultural activities range from intensive crop production and mixed farming in winter rainfall and high summer rainfall areas to cattle ranching in the bushveld and sheep farming in the arid regions. Maize is most widely grown, followed by wheat, oats, ...