Even before the arrival of the first Whites at East London, there was a Xhosa village on the western bank of the Buffalo River, about opposite where Latimer's Landing is today. By 1848 it had become regarded as a "location" by the British Kaffrarian authorities, with its own laws that were distinct from those in force in the White township. This village would be destroyed in 1857 during the time of tension that accompanied the Cattle Killing campaign, and a new location (now known as the West Bank Location) would be established further from the town. In 1890, it was moved once again, this time to the site on which the Mercedes Benz plant now stands.

The first location on the eastern bank of the river was the "Fingo Location" which was created in 1874 by the Harbour authorities. It was positioned on the Quigney, about where Burmeister's Hardware Store is today. Because of proposed town expansion in that direction, however, it was soon moved to a point near Eastern Beach (Seaside Location), but that spot also proved unfavourable because of its close proximity to the place where White women were wont to bathe. In 1878 and 1879, therefore, two new locations were established near North End, namely the Wesleyan Location for the Fingo community and Newsam's Town for the amaXhosa. In 1882 a third location for the "elite" was established a little to the east of the Wesleyan Location.

The close proximity of these three locations to North End, however, meant that their existence was also doomed to be short-lived. Indeed, by 1890, a large and composite township was established further from North End (East Bank Location). It would remain on that spot until the establishment of Duncan Village in the 1930s.

Dr Keith Tankard