For a long time the club had an inscription bearing the words: "No natives no Jews". In other words... only open to people of pure British descent

(posted on the Herald's website)...one paragraph on the Harare Club caught my eye...see below

How the City of Harare Was Born
The Herald (Harare)
COLUMN16
June 2007
Posted to the web
16 June 2007 Harare

After writing at length about Zimbabwe's many breathtakingly beautiful tourist resorts, regular readers of this column have asked me to write something about the origins of the City of Harare.
For some weeks I have resisted that temptation but today, I shall give you an insight into how Harare was born. In later instalments, I shall explain how certain place names came into being.
Clearly, so many things happened since 1890 and I would need acres of space to give write about every event that shaped Harare. Next week I will touch on the dramatic changes that have taken place since independence in 1980.

Harare, as we know it today, was born at 10am on September 13 1890, when Colonel Robert Pannefather's Pioneer Column hoisted their colonial flag -- the Union Jack -- in what is today Africa Unity Square.

But were it not for an accident of geography, the Sunshine City would have been located at Mt Hampden, about 20km west of the current site.

In September 1890, as the Pioneer Column drew closer to their destination -- Mount Hampden -- after travelling about 230 kilometres from Shashi River, in Chirumanzi, near Masvingo, its commander, Col Pannefather, rode ahead to look for a suitable site for what was to become the capital city of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

Col Pannefather's initial idea was to establish the city near Gwebi River but realised that it would be too expensive to build there.

As his horse galloped around, he met a man on horseback by the name Frank Johnson, who had been in the area for much longer.

Johnson told Pannefather that there was a good ground near a stream and a "good sized kopje" about 20km east of Mount Hampden that was suitable for a settlement.

When the column reached the recommended spot on September 12, Johnson's Order Book recorded simply that "It is noted for general information that the Column having arrived at its destination will halt. The name of this place will be Fort Salisbury."

The next day on September 13 at 10am, the Pioneers paraded on a piece of land now occupied by Africa Unity Square and named it Cecil Square.

The place was named Cecil Square, not after Cecil John Rhodes, but after bald-headed and heavily bearded Robert Cecil, the Third Marquess of Salisbury, who was three times prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1886, 1886 to 1892 and 1895 to 1902. He also served four times as British Foreign Secretary. He was bestowed with the title of Lord Salisbury.
Lieutenant E. G. Tyndale-Biscoe solemnly hoisted the Union Jack on a Msasa tree pole and Canon Balfour offered a prayer followed by a salute fired from two field guns.
Then they cheered thrice, first for the Queen of England, second for Prime Minister Salisbury after whom the city was then named and for the goodwill of the Pioneers.

The Pioneer Column immediately went to work on the square, turning it into a "living" replica of the British flag.

The fountain in the centre of the square marks the exact spot where the flag was hoisted on a Msasa pole.

In the next two weeks, the appearance of the square changed dramatically with four pathways, one linking Second Street (now Sam Nujoma) with Third Street and the other joining Baker Avenue (now Nelson Mandela) to Stanley Avenue (now Jason Moyo) and two diagonals linking all the four streets. The four pathways met at the centre of the square, transforming it into a Union Jack.

Jacaranda trees were planted around the square at the edge to resemble the edges of the flag and still stand today as a reminder of their legacy.

Other trees, flowers and lawn were planted between the pathways to add colour to the flag.
Thus was born the City of Harare.

At the end of the month the Pioneers were discharged with three months' rations and most of them went off to peg their mining claims or to ride out the farms which were their due reward for successfully expanding the frontiers of the British Empire.

The first Police Quarters were built by Major Forbes on the site of Meikles Hotel, just opposite the park, and the first bakery was a small red house at the corner of First Street and Robert Mugabe Road (now occupied by Standard Chartered Bank), and its oven a great big anthill. It was, in fact, the anthill that put paid to plans to extend First Street up to the railway station, like the rest of the north-south streets in the city centre, notably Second Street (Sam Nujoma), Angwa Street, Julius Nyerere Way, Fourth Street, etc.

The Pioneers immediately built a stable for their horses at what is today the Harare Civil Court. It was previously known as Stables Building.

They also set up a police station at Old Shell House in Nelson Mandela Avenue, then Baker Avenue, and a visit to the some of the rooms there confirms that they were actually holding cells.

They also built a club, now the Harare Club, on Third Street overlooking the Square. For a long time the club had an inscription bearing the words: "No natives no Jews". In other words, it was only open to people of pure British descend.

Those who ventured west of the new city wrote: "Between our laager and the Kopje was a big black marsh which could only be crossed by jumping from tuft to tuft of grass but it could be avoided by going up north where it starts (Harare Gardens near the two NSSA buildings)."
The Pioneers also built the Anglican Cathedral for their church services, in addition to Cecil Hotel, which is now the Parliament Building.

When Salisbury, now Harare, was granted municipal status in 1935, the Africa Unity Square and the surrounding area were taken over by the council. It was Harare City Council's turn in 1982, when Salisbury gave way to Harare.