ufacture of explosives was built in Arklow, Ireland in 1895. Mr Arthur Chaimberlain of Kynochs visited South Africa in 1907 (1908) to find a place to start another factory. 1,400 acres of land were bought at Umbogintwini, and on 24 October 1907, a group of Irishmen (23 workers and their families) from Arklow sailed from Southampton to be factory hands at the new Kynoch's factory in Umbogintwini. These people lived in Amanzimtoti and Isipingo before the village of Umbogintwini took shape.One of these "Irishmen" (Harry Purves) was in fact originally from Durban, where he was born to Scottish immigrants.
In 1910 Toti had "a dozen families" (according to Bill Bailey), and the Toti Hotel had 50 rooms. In 1911 Toti was an hours ride from Durban by train, and a photograph shows a boat race being held on the Lagoon. The Amanzimtoti River was navigable for 3.5 miles by rowing boat.
In the 1920s there was a steam train (the Port Shepstone Express) that passed through the town once a day, to and from Durban. At around this time there was a Zulu kraalwhere the original Amanzimtoti Primary School was later built. One of the bathing areas in the sea for holiday makers was a gully with rocks sheltering on either side. Abungalow was built near this site in the early 1920s by Mrs Miller (née Reinbach) and her husband Douglas Miller, and a tea room existed there in 1923. The two Reinbach brothers and a Mr Grainger were often called upon to rescue bathers, and it was decided to use the gully, and place suspended chains across it, to provide a safe area for bathers. The chains were put up sometime before 1926, and this place was then called Chain Rocks. Paul Henwood May moved to Amanzimtoti in 1922, and built several colonial style homes (made from wood, with an iron roof and a front verandah).
Many people moved to Amanzimtoti during the Great Depression, because the cost of living was cheaper than in the cities. Amanzimtoti was granted local administration in
