Odendaalsrus, town in central South Africa, in Free State Province, 16 km (10 mi) north of the town of Welkom. The economy of Odendaalsrus is dominated by gold mining. Farms in the surrounding area produce mainly corn, with some wheat and sorghum. The town was named after J. J. Odendaal, who purchased the first trekker (white settler) farm in the area in 1878. Odendaalsrus became a municipality in 1912, but remained largely undeveloped until the discovery in 1946 of rich gold deposits on a nearby farm. The combined population (1991) of Odendaalsrus and Allanridge was 12,242, but most blacks continue to live in the adjacent townships of Kutlawanong (42,354) and Nyakalong (2197), a lingering effect of apartheid, the South African government's former policy of racial segregation.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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