The Duiventoren (Goorbosstraat 71 Private domain) is one of the oldest existing buildings in Gooreind, probably built in 1829. In the cadastral documents it is registered in the name of van LOCKE, annuitant in Antwerp. Over the years, the building has witnessed dramatic events twice. On 24 June 1831, a report was drawn up of a murder, committed “near the house of M.LOCKE” on a volunteer of an army unit who was camping in Gooreind. We were then living in the gloomy days of the Belgian Revolution. Situated along the Antwerp-Breda road, most troops had to pass by or camp here. At first there was a stream of Dutchmen, about whom few complaints were made to the municipal authorities. However, from 11 November 1830, the Belgian volunteers showed up. A brigade of 1450 men, under the command of General Mellinet, who had his headquarters in Wuustwezel, stayed here for four days and made itself notorious by plundering the houses of the citizens.
During the following three months, 40,000 volunteers stayed in Wuustwezel. The flow would continue here for four years. Especially the troops under the French General Gérard, who were billeted here from 25 September 1832 until the beginning of 1834, caused a lot of trouble, by cutting down entire forests for their heating. Endless complaints about damage and demands were the result, but it was
hopeless to count on compensation. It is therefore quite possible that a dissatisfied victim committed the murder of a volunteer out of revenge.
On 20 June 1882, a gruesome murder was committed on a 10-year-old girl. The death certificate states: “that this morning here at the residence of Count De Looz died by murder...” She lived on the Brasschaatse Steenweg and was on her way to the preparation lessons for her first communion. She was assaulted by a boy from Gooreind who was not yet sixteen years old and had her throat cut. The murderer, Jan Jozef De Ridder (°19.08.1866) was sentenced to twenty years in prison.