In 1881 the railway line from Port Elizabeth ended on the farm Carlton. With the diversion of the railway line to Colesberg in 1883-1884 a station was built on a part of the farm Hartebeeshoek. The station was named Naauwpoort after the adjacent farm, allegedly because the pronunciation of Hartebeeshoek was too much of a tongue twister for the English railway officials. In 1963 the name was changed to Noupoort.