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Freetown
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Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and with a population of 1,070,200 . Freetown is the hub of the nation's administrative, financial, educational, communications, cultural, and economic center.
Freetown's economy revolves largely around its harbor, which is the largest natural harbor in Africa, and the third-largest natural harbor in the world. The Freetown Harbor is a major commercial shipping port and handles Sierra Leone's main exports.
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Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and with a population of 1,070,200 . Freetown is the hub of the nation's administrative, financial, educational, communications, cultural, and economic center.
Freetown's economy revolves largely around its harbor, which is the largest natural harbor in Africa, and the third-largest natural harbor in the world. The Freetown Harbor is a major commercial shipping port and handles Sierra Leone's main exports. Industries include fish packing, rice milling, petroleum refining, diamond cutting, and the manufacture of cigarettes.
Freetown is also home to Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827. The university not only played a key role in Sierra Leone’s colonial history, but also a key role in English-speaking West-African nations' colonial history.
The city of Freetown was founded by Lieutenant John Clarkson and freed American slaves called the 'Nova Scotians' (also called the 'Settlers') who were brought to Sierra Leone by the Sierra Leone Company in 1792. Freetown is the oldest capital to be founded by freed American slaves, having been founded thirty years before Monrovia, Liberia. The oldest part of Freetown is Settler Town which was established by the Nova Scotians in 1792, after their namesake 'the Settlers'. The Maroons founded Maroon Town in 1800, and that is another historical area in Freetown. The suburbs of Freetown were founded by the Liberated Africans between 1809-1827, and presently they are the most affluent areas of Freetown.
Province of Freedom 1787-1789
The area, said to have previously been a slave market, was first settled in 1787 by 400 freed slaves and black Americans sent from England, under the auspices of British abolitionist, Granville Sharp. They established the 'Province of Freedom' or Granville Town on land purchased from local Koya Temne subchief King Tom and regent Naimbana, a purchase which was to cede the land to the new settlers "for ever." The established arrangement between Europeans and the Koya Temne did not include provisions for permanent settlement, and some historians question how well the Koya leaders understood the agreement. Disputes soon broke out, and King Tom's successor, King Jimmy, burnt the settlement to the ground in 1789. Alexander Falconbridge was sent to Sierra Leone in 1791 to collect the remaining Black Poor settlers, and they re-established Granville Town (later on renamed Cline Town, Sierra Leone) near Fourah Bay. It should be noted that these 1787 settlers did not establish Freetown. The bicentenial of Freetown was celebrated in 1987, when in reality Freetown was founded in 1792.
Freetown Colony 1792-1808
The basis for the Freetown Colony began in 1791, when an African American called Thomas Peters, who had served in the Black Pioneers, went to England to petition the British government to give the black refugees at Nova Scotia their land. Peters met with the directors of the Sierra Leone Company and it was there he learned of a new settlement at Sierra Leone for freed black settlers. The directors were eager to allow the Nova Scotians to build a settlment at Sierra Leone; the London-based and newly created Sierra Leone Company had decided to create a new colony but before Peter's arrival had no colonists. Lieutenant John Clarkson was sent to Nova Scotia to register immigrants to take to Sierra Leone for the purpose of starting a new settlement. Over 1,100 former American slaves from Nova Scotia sailed in 15 ships and arrived in St. George Bay between February 26-March 9. Sixty four settlers died en route to Sierra Leone, and even Lieutenant Clarkson was ill during the voyage. Upon reaching Sierra Leone, Clarkson and some of the Nova Scotian 'captains' "despatched on shore to clear or make roadway for their landing". The Nova Scotians were to build Freetown on the former site of the first Granville Town which had become a "jungle" since its destruction in 1789. Though they built Freetown on Granville Town's former site, their settlement was not a rebirth of Granville Town, which had been re-established at Fourah Bay in 1791 by the remaining Old Settlers. The women remained in the ships while the Nova Scotian men worked tirelessly to clear the land. Clarkson told the men to clear the land until they reached a large cotton tree. The Settler men toiled and many were scratched and hurt by the shrubbery and bush. After the work had been done and the land cleared all the Nova Scotians, men and women, disembarked and marched towards the thick forest and to the cotton tree, and their preachers (all African Americans) began singing:
Awake and Sing Of Moses and the Lamb
Wake! every heart and every tongue
To praise the Saviour's name
The day of Jubilee is come;
Return ye ransomed sinners home
On March 11 1792, at the cotton tree, Nathaniel Gilbert, a white preacher prayed and preached a sermon under the large Cotton Tree, and Reverend David George preached the first recorded Baptist service in Africa.The land was dedicated and christened 'Free Town' according to the instructions of the Sierra Leone Company Directors. This was the first thanksgiving service in the newly christened Free Town. Eventually John Clarkson would be sworn in as first governor of Sierra Leone. Small huts were erected before the rainy season. The Sierra Leone Company surveyors and the Nova Scotians built Freetown on the American grid pattern, with parallel streets and wide roads, with the largest being Water Street.
On August 24 1792, the Black Poor or Old Settlers of the second Granville Town were incorporated into the new Sierra Leone Colony but remained at Granville Town. ref>
It survived being pillaged by the French in 1794, and was rebuilt by the Nova Scotian settlers. By 1798, Freetown had between 300-400 houses with architecture resembling that of the United States-3-4 feet stone foundations with wooden superstructures. Eventually this style of housing (brought by the Nova Scotians) would be the model for the 'bod oses' of their Creole descendants.
In 1800, the Nova Scotians rebelled and it was the arrival of the Jamaican Maroons which caused the rebellion to be suppressed. Thirty-four Nova Scotians were banished and sent to either the Sherbro or a penal colony at Gore. Some of these of the Nova Scotians were eventually allowed back into After the Maroons captured the rebels, they were granted the land of the Nova Scotian rebels. Eventually the Maroons would have their own district at Maroon Town. Freetown.
Freetown as a Crown Colony 1808-1961
Later on, the indigenous inhabitants attacked the colony in 1801, but the British eventually took control of Freetown making it a Crown Colony in 1808, beginning the expansionism that led to the creation of Sierra Leone.From 1808 to 1874, the city served as the capital of British West Africa. It also served as the base for the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron which was charged with halting the slave trade. Most of the slaves liberated by the squadron chose to settle in Sierra Leone, and Freetown in particular, rather than return home; thus the population included descendants of many different peoples from all over the west coast of Africa. The Liberated Africans established the suburbs of Freetown Peninsula, and they were the largest group of immigrants which made up the Creole people of Freetown.
The city expanded rapidly as many freed slaves settled, accompanied by West Indian and African soldiers who had fought for Britain in the Napoleonic Wars. During World War II, Britain maintained a naval base at Freetown. Descendants of the various freed slaves who landed in Sierra Leone between 1787 and 1792, are called the Creoles. The Creoles play a leading role in the city, even though they are a minority of the overall Sierra Leone population.
The city was the scene of fierce fighting in the late 1990s. It was captured by ECOWAS troops seeking to restore President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1998, and later it was unsuccessfully attacked by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front.
Historical attractions
Freetown has an abundance of historically significant landmarks that link the legacy of West Africans with African-Americans, Liberated African slaves, and West Indians. A famous landmark in the center of the east of Freetown is the Cotton Tree, which is a treasured symbol of the city because it represents the christening of Freetown in 1792.
In downtown Freetown is the Connaught Hospital, which was the first hospital in West Africa modeled after Western medical practices. Nearby is "King's Gate", built in stone with a statement inscribed which reads "any slave who passes through this gate is declared a free man", and it was this gate through which Liberated Africans passed through. Down by the Naval Wharf are slave steps carved out of stone. It was here that the Portuguese slave traders bought and sold many Africans and from which their last footsteps on African soil were made.
Freetown is home to Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827. The university played a key role in Sierra Leone’s colonial history. The college’s first student, Samuel Adjai Crowther, went on to become the first indigenous Bishop of West Africa.
Next to the college is the little-visited National Railway Museum, whose prize exhibit is a coach built for the state visit of Elizabeth II in 1961. The Big Market on Wallace Johnson Street is the showcase for local artisans’ work and the place to pick up a bargain souvenir.
The Freetown peninsula is ringed by long stretches of white sand. Lumley Beach, on the western side of the peninsula, forms a focal point for local parties and festivals.
Freetown is the seat of St John's Maroon Church (built around 1820), St George's Cathedral (completed in 1828), and Foulah Town Mosque (built in the 1830s). Also in Freetown are assorted beaches and markets, and the Sierra Leone Museum featuring the Ruiter Stone
Economy
Freetown is the economic and financial center of Sierra Leone. The country's national television and radio stations, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services, is primarily based in Freetown, although it also has regional headquarters in the country's other primary cities of Bo and Kenema. Freetown is home to dozens of radio stations and newspapers. Freetown is home to one of the country's two main Universities, the Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827.
Many of the country's largest corporations locate their headquarters' home offices in Freetown as well as the majority of international companies. The city's economy revolves largely around its fine natural harbor, which is the third-largest natural harbor in the world. The Freetown harbor is capable of receiving oceangoing vessels and handles Sierra Leone's main exports. Industries include food and beverage processing, fish packing, rice milling, petroleum refining, diamond cutting, and the manufacture of cigarettes, paint, shoes, and beer. the Fula and Sierra Leonean-Lebanese play a major role in local trade in the city. The city is served by the Lungi International Airport, located in the city of Lungi, across the sea from Freetown.
Climate
Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Freetown has a tropical climate with a rainy season - May through October, the balance of the year representing the dry season. The beginning and end of the rainy season is marked by strong thunder storms. This is a Tropical Savanna Climate.
Freetown's high humidity is somewhat relieved November through February by the famous Harmattan, a gentle wind flowing down from the Sahara Desert affording Freetown its coolest period of the year. Average temperature ranges in Freetown are from 21 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit) to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) all year.
Government
Freetown is governed by a city council, which is headed by a mayor, in whom executive authority is vested. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and for seeing that all laws are enforced. The mayor is elected directly by the residents of Freetown.
The current mayor is Herbert George-Williams, a member of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party. He replaced his fellow member of the Krio ethnic group, Winstanley Bankole Johnson on January 17, 2008. Johnson was appointed mayor in July 2004 and was a member of the APC. Johnson came to power as the APC swept 2004 Western Area municipal elections.
Neighborhoods
Freetown is officially divided into three geographical regions:
The East End of Freetown is located in the eastern part of the city. The East End is the most populous of the three geographical regions of Freetown and with by far the highest poverty rate in the city. The East End is also well known for having by far the highest crime rate in Freetown. Most of the violent crime committed in Freetown is concentrated in the East End. Several of Freetown's top football clubs come from the East End.
Central Freetown is located in the central part of the city, and includes Downtown Freetown and the central business district. Most of the tallest and most important buildings in Sierra Leone are based in Central Freetown, as well as most of the foreign embassies in Sierra Leone. The country's national stadium is also located in Central Freetown, as is the informal housing settlement of Kroo Bay.
Demographics
Freetown is the capital, largest city, and economic center of Sierra Leone. The city has an estimated population of 1,070,200 (about 16.1% of Sierra Leone's total population).
Freetown is home to significant numbers of all of the country's ethnic groups. The Sierra Leone Creole people (descendant of freed Liberated African, African Americans and West Indian slaves that landed in Freetown between 1792 and about 1885) form the single-largest ethnic group in the city at about 29% of the total population and 5% of Sierra Leone's population in total.
As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language (a native language of the Creole people who only make up 5% of country's population) is by far the most widely spoken language in the city. The language is spoken at home as a first language by 90% of the population and is spoken as a lingua franca by the entire population in the city.
Crime
Since the end of civil war in 2002, Freetown has experienced an increase in robberies, murders, carjacking, home invasion, and assault. This effect is most pronounced in the East End of Freetown.
Pickpocketing of cell phone and purses are the most common crimes in Freetown.
Some of the high-profile victims of crime in the city included one of the most successful Sierra Leonean businessmen, Alhaji Lamrana Bah, who was shot and killed by armed men in his Mercedes Benz on February 16, 2008 in an apparent car-jacking along the Old Main Motor Road at Cola Tree, Allen Town in the East End of Freetown. All shops and businesses owned by the Fula community in Freetown were closed for several days in protest of the Freetown Police failure to reduce crime in the city.
FannyAnn Eddy, the founder of the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association, was murdered by a group of at least three men who broke into her office in Freetown, raped her, stabbed her, and eventually broke her neck. Her murder occurred on September 28, 2004, shortly after she gave a speech to the United Nations in New York, about the threats of violence faced by lesbians and gays in Sierra Leone, where homosexuality is illegal.
Another high-profile victim of crime in the city was Kenneth Moore, a government building inspector, who was despatched by the ministry of lands to demolish illegal structures erected on government property, and was attacked and murdered in a guest house in central Freetown by drug dealers. His case still remains unsolved.
Education
Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Freetown has an education system with six years of primary school (Class 1-6), and six years of secondary school (Form 1-6); secondary schools are further divided into Junior secondary school (Form 1-3) and Senior secondary school (Form 4-6). Primary schools usually comprise from ages 6 to 12, and secondary schools usually comprise from ages 13 to 18. Primary Education is free and compulsory in government-sponsored public schools.
Freetown is home to one of the country's two main universities, the Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa, founded in 1827.
Notable secondary schools in Freetown
| School | Founded |
|---|
| Albert Academy | 1904 | | Annie Walsh Memorial Girls Secondary School | 1849 | | St. Edward's Secondary School | 1925 | | Prince of Wales Secondary School | 1921 | | Methodist Boys High School | 1874 | | Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School | 1965 | | Congress Boys Secondary School | 1975 | | Kankalay Islamic Secondary School | 1978 | | Sierra Leone Grammar School | 1845 | | Saint Joseph's Secondary School | |
Muslim Brotherhood Secondary School
Young Women's Christians Association Secondary School YWCA
Freetown Secondary School for Girls||1926
Transportation
Air transportation
Lungi International Airport is the international airport that serves Freetown and the rest of the country. It is located in the city of Lungi, across the river from Freetown. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to or from Sierra Leone. The airport is operated by Sierra Leone Airports Authority. Freetown also has a heliport on Aberdeen Island, connecting the city with the airport. There is a frequent helicopter, hovercraft, and ferry-service to Lungi.
Transfers to Freetown
Passengers have the choice of hovercraft, ferry, or a helicopter to cross the river to Freetown. Ferry is the cheapest option. Hovercraft and ferry operations have at times been suspended due to safety concerns.
Access by sea
Sierra Leone has the third-largest natural harbor in the world
where shipping from all over the globe berth at Freetown's famous Queen Elizabeth II Quay. Passenger, cargo, and private craft also utilize Government Wharf nearer to central Freetown.
Recent important investment has seen the introduction of high-tech cargo scanning facilities operated by Intertek/Port Maritime Security International (PMSI). This facility is a clear indication of the Sierra Leone Government's commitment for significant improvement, security, and expansion of port facilities. Through the services provided, Sierra Leone has not only addressed its international obligations in keeping up with future changes but also allows the country to trade freely with the important US export market of minerals including rutile and bauxite.
100% inspection of containers arriving and departing Freetown is today the norm, placing Sierra Leone ahead of all other countries throughout West Africa in security.
Sports
Like the rest of Sierra Leone, football is the most popular sport in Freetown. The Sierra Leone national football team, popularly known as the Leone Stars plays all their home games at Freetown's National Stadium, the largest stadium in Sierra Leone. Eight of the fifteen clubs in the Sierra Leone National Premier League are from Freetown, including two of Sierra Leone's biggest and most successful football clubs, East End Lions, and Mighty Blackpool. A match between these two teams is the biggest domestic-football clash in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone National Premier League clubs from Freetown
2007 Freetown explosion
A major explosion occurred on Free Street in downtown Freetown which killed at least 18 people on 20 December 2007.
It was believed that the explosion was caused by the combination of a gas leak and fire inside a Nigerian-owned clothing store just off the main street of Freetown. Killing at least 17 people, the explosion also trapped a significant number of people underneath the rubble. The explosion damaged a fire engine which was on the scene to battle the fire inside. The Connaught Hospital was reported to have struggled in caring for the wounded. Both President Ernest Bai Koroma and Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana visited injured people in the hospitals intensive-care unit.
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