In 1904 Mahatma Gandhi established a settlement at Phoenix devoted to his principles of Satyagraha [passive resistance]. The newspaper Indian Opinion, which he founded in 1903, was published at Phoenix Settlement. The settlement comprised 100 acres of land with several main buildings clustered together on a small hill known as the Apex area. The property, which cost £1000, apparently had once been a sugar farm and had many fruit trees growing on it.