Jamestown/Usshertown, Accra

Last updated
Jamestown/Usshertown Districts
(Old Accra)
Jamestown Light House, Accra.jpg
LocationJamestown
Roughly:
W: Korle Lagoon
E: Kwame Nkrumah Avenue
N: Accra Railway Station
S: Gulf of Guinea

Usshertown
Roughly:
W: Kwame Nkrumah Avenue
N: Kinbu Road
E: Kojo Thompson Road
S: Gulf of Guinea
Governing bodyAccra Metropolitan Assembly

Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana [1] and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Dutch Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast. [2] [3] These districts were developed at the end of the 19th century, and following the rapid growth of the city during the 20th century, they became areas of a dense mixture of commercial and residential use.

Contents

History

Houses in Jamestown Houses in Jamestown 2.jpg
Houses in Jamestown

Today, both Jamestown and Usshertown remain fishing communities inhabited primarily by the Ga. Although in a state of decay, the districts are significant in the history of Accra, which replaced Cape Coast as the capital of Gold Coast (British colony) in 1876. The original lighthouse, built at James Fort in 1871, was replaced in the 1930s by the current tower, which is 28 m (92 ft) tall. The lighthouse, which is 34 metres (112 ft) above sea level, has a visibility of 16 nautical miles (30 km), [4] it overlooks the harbour, James Fort, the Bukom district and Ussher Fort. [5]

Since World War II, a succession of plans to enhance the capital city have come with changes in government, some seeing improvements in Jamestown as a necessary part of the overall plan, and some treating such improvements as competing with the efforts to develop the central business district of Accra farther north. Currently, plans are afoot to re-develop the districts of Jamestown and Usshertown, referred to as "Ga-Mashie" with the inauguration of the 2015 Old Accra Strategy. The popular Azonto dance originated from Jamestown. The local language "Ga" is often spoken by the natives. [6] [7]

Areas of Jamestown and Usshertown include Bukom, known for its boxing gyms; Adedainkpo, former home of the wealthiest African residents of Accra; Swalaba; Korle Woko (formerly also known as Ripponville); and Akoto Lante.

People around Jamestown lighthouse tower during Chale Wote festival Jamestown tower chalewote festival .jpg
People around Jamestown lighthouse tower during Chale Wote festival

Jamestown hosts the annual Chale Wote Street Art Festival. [8]

Jamestown lighthouse in Accra's Jamestown Jamestown lighthouse.jpg
Jamestown lighthouse in Accra's Jamestown
Jamestown Beach James Town Beach.jpg
Jamestown Beach

Chieftaincy

The current traditional chief is Oblempong Nii Wetse Kojo II. [9] He was inducted after the passing of the previous chief Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio V who had been chief for thirty-nine years. [10] His death was officially announced in February 2018 and the new chief Oblempong Nii Wetse Kojo II was inducted on 1 February 2018. [11] [12]

Landmarks/Places of Interest

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accra</span> Capital and the largest city of Ghana

Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, 20.4 km2 (7.9 sq mi), had a population of 284,124 inhabitants, and the larger Greater Accra Region, 3,245 km2 (1,253 sq mi), had a population of 5,455,692 inhabitants. In common usage, the name "Accra" often refers to the territory of the Accra Metropolitan District as it existed before 2008, when it covered 199.4 km2 (77.0 sq mi). This territory has since been split into 13 local government districts: 12 independent municipal districts and the reduced Accra Metropolitan District (20.4 km2), which is the only district within the capital to be granted city status. This territory of 199.4 km2 contained 1,782,150 inhabitants at the 2021 census, and serves as the capital of Ghana, while the district under the jurisdiction of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly proper (20.4 km2) is distinguished from the rest of the capital as the "City of Accra".

The Ga-Dangbe, Gã-Daŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana, Togo and Benin. The Ga and Dangbe people are grouped respectively as part of the Ga–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. The Ga-Dangmes are one ethnic group that lives primarily in the Greater Accra of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include Nikoi, Amon, Kotey, Kotie, Adei, Kutorkor, Oblitey, Lartey, Nortey, Aryee, Poku and Lamptey. The following are names derived from the ethnic Dangme and common among the Ningos Nartey, Tetteh, Kwei, Kweinor, Kwetey, Narteh, Narh, Dugbatey, Teye, Martey, Addo, Siaw, Saki, Amanor, Djangba. These are aligned to the ethnic Ga as well: Lomotey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okai, Bortey, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Sowah, Odoi, Ablor, Adjetey, Dodoo, Darku and Quartey.

The Tabom or Agudas are the Afro-Brazilian community in the south of Ghana who are mostly of Yoruba descent. The Tabom People are an Afro-Brazilian community of former slave returnees. When they arrived in Jamestown, Accra they could speak only Portuguese, and would conspicuously use the phrase "Tá bom" ("Okay"), so the Ga-Adangbe people, who primarily inhabited the Jamestown neighborhood in Accra, started to call them the Tabom.

Articles related to Ghana include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homowo</span> Traditional festival in Ghana by the Ga people

Homowo is a festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana in the Greater Accra Region. The festival starts at the end of April into May with the planting of crops before the rainy season starts. The Ga people celebrate Homowo in the remembrance of famine that once happened in their history in precolonial Ghana. The Ga Homowo or Harvest Custom is an annual tradition among the Accra people, with its origin tied to the Native Calendar and the Damte Dsanwe people of the Asere Quarter. Asere is a sub-division of the Ga Division in the Accra District of the Gold Coast Colony.

Nungua is a town in Krowor Municipal District in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana near the coast. Nungua is the eighteenth most populous settlement in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 84,119 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ussher Fort</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ussher Fort is a fort in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Dutch in 1649 as Fort Crèvecœur, and is a two day's march from Elmina and to the east of Accra on a rocky point between two lagoons. It was one of three forts that Europeans built in the region during the middle of the 17th century. Fort Crèvecœur was part of the Dutch Gold Coast. The Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty (1867), which defined areas of influence on the Gold Coast, transferred it to the British in 1868. Because of its significance in the history of European colonial trade and exploitation in Africa, the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhoods of Accra</span> List of neighborhoods within the city of Accra

The city of Accra, capital of Ghana, is officially divided into five geographical regions: North, West, East, Central and south - and eleven sub-metropolitan areas: Osu Klottey, Ablekuma North, Ablekuma South, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso East, Ayawaso North, Ayawaso West, La, Okaikoi North, Okaikoi South, Abossey Okai, and Ashiedu Keteke. The word "neighbourhood" can take on various official and unofficial meanings. There are, however, 50 official neighbourhoods within the city limits of Accra.

Kaneshie is a suburb in the Accra Metropolitan district, a district of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The name was derived from a word in the Ga-Adangbe, that is "Kane Shie Shie", meaning "under the lamp" referring to its beginnings as a night market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort James, Ghana</span> Fortified colonial trading post

Fort James is a fort located in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Royal African Company of England (RAC) as a trading post for both gold and slaves in 1673, where it joined the Dutch Fort Crêvecœur (1649), and the Danish Fort Christiansborg (1652) along the coast of the then Gold Coast. Along with other castles and forts in Ghana, Fort James was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 because of its importance during the European colonial period.

Gã Mantse is the title of the Ghanaian king of the Gã Traditional Area in southern part of Ghana, where the Ga-Adangbe people dwell with Accra as the capital city. The Ga-Dangbe, Gã-Daŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana, Togo and Benin. The current Ga Mantse is King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II known in private as Dr Kelvin Nii Tackie Abia, a prosperous entrepreneur, who was duly sworn in by the Ga Paramount Stool Dzasetse Dr Nii Tetteh Kwei II, a host of Dzasefoi (Kingmakers) and other traditional leaders as per Custom and Tradition demands.

Jonathan Nii Tackie-Komme is a Ghanaian teacher, public servant and a politician. He is the immediate past Member of Parliament of the Odododiodoo constituency. He was elected as MP through a by-election held on 30 August 2005. The by-election became necessary after the death of Samuel Nii Ayi Mankattah, the incumbent MP. He won the election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2005 by defeating five other candidates.

Nii Armah Ashitey is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey and is also the former minister for employment and labour relations in the Ghanaian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chale Wote Street Art Festival</span> Street festival in Ghana

The Chale Wote Street Art Festival also known as Chale Wote is an annual street festival in Accra, Ghana. The festival targets exchanges between scores of local and international artists and patrons. "Wote" in the Ga language means "let's go."

Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, was the Osu Maŋtsɛ or King of the Ga people of Osu in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, West Africa. As the Paramount Chief of Osu, he was President of the Osu Traditional Council. He was elected President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs in 2016. He is reported by the Ghana's national daily newspaper, the Daily Graphic, to have died at dawn on Saturday 6th February, 2021.

Sionne Neely is a co-founder of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival. She was one of the directors of Accra [dot] Alt, an organization that documents rising Ghanaian artistes and Ghanaian culture.

Nii Kwabena Bonnie III, also known as Kwamla Theodore Taylor, was a Ghanaian (Ga) traditional ruler in Gold Coast, a British colony in West Africa, in 1947. He was a chief of Osu Alata Mantse and Oyokohene of Techiman.

Sabon Zango or Sabon Zongo is a Zongo residential town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The name " Sabon Zango" has its etymology from the Hausa Language which literally means the "new settlement". The town was founded by some of the earliest Hausa settlers in Southern Ghana. It remains one of the oldest Zongo settlements in the country due to the events that led to the town's resettlement. It is also the birthplace of Ghana's current Second lady Samira Bawumia. Sabon Zango shares boundary with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Oblempong Nii Kojo Ababio V was a Ghanaian dental surgeon pioneer who also served as the Jamestown Maŋtsɛ and President of the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council. He was popularly known as Dentist Cofie.

The Ga Traditional Council is one of the 12 Traditional Councils in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. It oversees the Ga Traditional Area, which includes areas such as Tema and Ashaiman. It is also the traditional body in charge of enstooling the Ga-Mantse and Ga-Manye

References

  1. "Police begin investigations into Kasoa-Winneba bullion van robbery attack - MyJoyOnline.com". MyJoyOnline. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  2. "Jamestown". www.macalester.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  3. Online, Peace FM. "Walking You Through Accra's Beautiful Attractions". Peacefmonline - Ghana news. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  4. "Jamestown Lighthouse in Accra". lightphotos. Retrieved 4 September 2015. information ... is unofficial and could not be used in navigation
  5. "Photographs and videos of Jamestown". Independent Travellers. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. Thompson, Nii. "Going deep into James Town, Accra, Ghana". Myweku Tastes.
  7. "Old Accra to be re-developed". Modern Ghana.
  8. "CHALE WOTE Festival 2017 officially opens in Accra". Ghanaweb. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. "Bruce-Quaye is James Town mantse". GhanaWeb.
  10. "Death of Jamestown mantse officially announced; new Ngleshi Alata chief introduced - 3newsgh". Archived from the original on 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  11. "James Town Mantse inducted". Today Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  12. "Obrempong Wetse Kojo II is Jamestown Mantse - House Of Chiefs Declares". DailyGuide Network. 2021-06-19. Retrieved 2022-06-27.